This is a neat little hike up the ridge that runs along the northern edge of the Neihu district, taking you up to a cool lookout point at Jiandaoshi (剪刀石, Scissors Rock) with great views over the city. The hiking trail is the Jinmianshan (金面山, Mt Jinmian) trail, and the rocks are usually referred to as Jinmian Rocks (at least in English) rather than their official name.
You can include Jinmian Rocks as part of a much longer hike along the ridge as described here, starting from Dahu Park and climbing up to Bishanyan Temple then across to Jinmianshan and down to Xihu Station. Or you can hike to it from the other direction, starting at Jiantan Station (on the Red Line) and heading east along the ridge (see here). For something less involved than either of those routes, Jinmian Rocks is popular as a quick hike straight up & down from Xihu Station as described on this page.
Starting from Xihu Station, if you come out of exit 1 you can spot the hiking trail sign.
Turn tight as indicated and walk past the McDonald’s:
Then turn right up the main road after that:
Walk up to the end and take a right (there’s another small sign pointing the way):
Then walk a few hundred metres and look out for another sign pointing along a side street on the left:
Walk up to the end and you’ll be at the start of the hiking trail:
From there things are pretty straightforward, basically just head up following signs for Jiandaoshi or Lunjian Pagoda (a small pagoda at the top of the climb near the rocks):
The trail mostly consists of fairly steep stone steps, and the views start opening up quite quickly as you climb:
The last section towards the top gets rocky and uneven underfoot, without steps or a smooth path:
…and then you reach Lunjian Pagoda:
From the pagoda turn right along the ridge to reach the rocks, this way:
You’ll also see a left turn off this path, heading down the other side of the ridge:
…you can happily ignore this, but this is the trail to Jinlong Agricultural Road and eventually Biyanshan Temple. If you do the longer walk described here, this is the path you’ll come up to reach Jinmian Rocks.
And with that, you’re at Jinmian Rocks and hopefully it’s not too crowded and you can enjoy the views. It does get pretty crowded though:
Somehow I’ve never managed to be up there on a clear day with a good camera at the same time, these are from a couple of years ago on my beautup old iPhone (in the first one you can see Biyanshan Temple centre-right along the ridge):
If it’s a clear day and you just want to quickly get up high for the views, Jinmianshan is a good call, likewise if you’re in the Neihu area and looking for a nice hike which you can knock off in an hour or two.
Have you been hiking in Neihu? Any questions or comments? Give me a shout below and I’ll get back to you.
Useful Links
Accommodation: search & book rooms in Taipei. Airbnb’s also a great option in Taiwan, if you’ve never used it before you can get a 30 dollar discount if you sign up with this link
For some more hikes in and around Taipei see here, and see my Taiwan overland travel guide here. Also check out my guides to hiking in Seoul, Tokyo, and Kyoto
Make sure you have a good insurance policy; World Nomads offer flexible travel insurance you can buy even if already overseas – most travel insurance companies won’t cover you if you’ve already left your country, and this can be a crucial point as I once found out the hard way in Thailand.
These are affiliate links i.e. if you use them to purchase insurance or book accommodation, 4corners7seas will receive a commission from them – this comes out of their profit margin at no extra cost to you. I’m recommending them because I know and trust them from personal use; thank you in advance should you choose to use my links.
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