Climb Elephant Hill or Xiangshan (象山) and get an excellent view of Taipei 101

9 Jan 2016

Xiangshan (象山) or Elephant Hill is one of the peaks near to the iconic Taipei 101 skyscraper and is one of the best place to get a good view of it. The other peaks are also named after animals (Tiger, Leopard etc) and the Elephant peak is the recommended one to go for as it is most easily accessed.

We planned to get to top just before sunset and spent some time there to see the city lights after the sun had set. Getting there was relatively easy by the subway. Nearest station is the aptly named Xiangshan (象山) Station.

Just follow the sign to the trailhead at Lane 150, XinYi Road.

Once out of station, we saw a park and signs pointing us to the trailhead, just next to a temple. There are many trails leading to the top of the hill. The trail was all about stairs and more stairs!

Trail map at the start of the Elephant Hill trail.

This cute terrier is accompanying its owner up to the peak as well.

The climb to the peak was not too difficult although it is mostly stairs. Along the way, glimpse of Taipei 101 could be seen and there were lookout points to take some photos of the building and the city.  It took us less than an hour to walk from the train station to the trailhead and climbed to the peak, including stops along the way to take photos.

Taipei 101 as seen near a lookout point at the early part of the trail.

Weekend could be crowded at some parts of the trail nearer to the top.

A popular spot to view Taipei 101 on Elephant Hill is where there are some huge boulders. Keen photographers were already perched on the top of the some of the boulders when we arrived. These guys were quite serious with their DSLR and tripods. I was not going to risk life and limb to be on top of these rocks, so we continued on the trail to one of the many lookout points. Finally we settled down at the edge of one of the lookout points and waited for the darkness to set in and the city to light up.

Taipei 101 as seen from Elephant Hill.

Hazy view of the city as as the sun sets.

Elephant motif on the railing with Taipei 101 in the background.

Watching the sun set and the waiting for the city lights.

Thankfully we had our windbreakers and jackets with us as the wind picked up a bit and it got a bit chilly as the sky darkens.

View of Taipei City at night as we made our way back down.

We could have stayed longer to appreciate the views and carnival-like atmosphere at the hilltop but hunger triggered us to go search for dinner.  As we made our way down the hill, more visitors were making their way up to the top.  The trail was well lit at night and was quite safe for walking. In no time, we were back at the Xiangshan train station where we took the train to the Shida Night Market located in the vicinity.