Long Dong(Dragon’s Cave) 龍洞

Region: NorthEast

Type of Climbing: Sport, Trad,  possible Bouldering,  a little bit of DWS

Season:  Spring and Fall are consistently good, but Winter can be great, just check the forecast before heading out. Summer is hot but mostly dry– bring a swimsuit and seek the shade.

Rating:  

Description: Long Dong(Dragon’s Lair or Dragon’s Cave)  is  Taiwan’s premier outdoor climbing area - superb sandstone sport and trad climbing on the NorthEast coast of Taiwan.

Accessible easily from Taipei, Hsinchu and northern parts of Taiwan, approaches range from quick and easy to 30 minute hikes over rough terrain and sketchy traverses, but you’re rewarded for your hard work with varied climbing on firm sandstone that provides great friction and gear placements.

The sapphire blue waters, the sea breeze and beautiful rock formations make for a breathtaking backdrop that complements the excellent climbing.

Guidebook 

We highly recommend the Rock Climbing Taiwan 台灣龍洞攀岩  guidebook, extensively covering both Sport and Trad climbing at Long Dong, available at Tingsaniou in Taipei, iClimb in Hsinchu, or online worldwide.

However because the guidebook was printed in 2012, we recommend supplementing the guidebook with Guidebook+, our online route status tracker.

Directions

By Car: LongDong Schoolgate Entrance, LongDong Backdoor Entrance

Click on the Entrance you want to approach above and use Google Maps for directions

By Bus from Taipei: Right outside of Main Station Exit M1, buy a ticket from to Long Dong Harbour(龍洞港）The  Bus # will be 1811 . Buses leave daily at 8:20, 9:20 and 10:20 in the morning. Don’t be late. The bus ride takes about 1:10-1:30.

For School Gate entrance, get off at “龍洞港“(Long Dong Harbour) bus stop, walk down the bamboo stairs into the village main road, and walk right into the crag.

For Backdoor entrance, get off at the next stop(Officially “龍洞南口”, but if you ask politely, the bus driver may drop you off right after the tunnel.) and walk back towards the temple. Follow the small temple road through to the parking lot, and then descend the stone steps on your right leading down to the gazebo to go to Backdoor .

Buses run back to Taipei at very roughly 12pm, 3pm and 6pm depending on traffic. To catch the Taipei bus from Backdoor wait at the Long Dong Ocean Park stop.

If you miss the Taipei bus, the 791 bus comes every hour and goes to Keelung Train station where it’s a quick 30 minute bus ride to Taipei.

Weather:

• Taiwan Central Weather Bureau (Scroll down for LongDong) – This is specific to Long Dong, but it has only one forecast for the whole day.
• Township weather report- This is for the district that Long Dong is in, but is more detailed and shows weather forecasts throughout the day.

Rebolt status: Because of seaside corrosion, some routes are not safe to climb. The Guidebook does a decent job of explaining which routes are safe or not but since there has been significant rebolting since its publication in 2012, we also recommend supplementing it with Guidebook+, our local route tracker.

Accomodations: As camping is technically not allowed, the most convenient options are staying at the guesthouse in the village(#3 Long Dong street) or at The Bivy Climber’s Hostel.

Guide Service:  QxAdventures, Detour Formosa, and MeetMyGuide provides guide service for this area.

More Info 

MountainProject.com - Pretty good resource about Long Dong, with transportation, info about what gear to bring, and basic info about crags.  Lacks depth and coverage of the guidebook but enough for a day trip.

Climbstone.com - Well organized, basic  info on Long Dong, including how to get there, what to bring. The site is run by Matt Robertson,  author of the Rock Climbing Taiwan guidebook.

GuanziLing 關子嶺

Region:Tainan/Jiayi

Location: Guanziling Entrance

Type of Climbing: Sport

Season: Fall, Winter, Early Spring

Topos and Beta:

Ron’s Taiwan Climbing Page - Has some basic info.

An easily printable English pdf guide to guanziling has been compiled by Dom Benson, based on Wen-Dong’s online guanziling guidebook(which is itself an electronic version of the original Guanziling guidebook by Wang Hung Hsiang)

Climbio’s Guanziling section also has images and video of a few routes. Climbio has some routes which the other guides don’t and vice versa so it’s good to cross check both resources.

 

Rehai 熱海

Region: Taipei

Location:Approximately here

The google map marker above will lead you to the general vicinity and you should be on 銀光巷（Yinguang lane） Keep on going on the road “銀光巷” past where Google maps claims it ends.

You will encounter a nice looking house and round mirror at a switchback going uphill.

Keep on going up the switchback, which leads to another switchback.On the third switchback you should see a stone trail leading into the forest. Take it, go uphill and you will see the walls!

Type of Climbing: Lead

Description: Close to Big Cannon Cliff, the rock at Rehai feels a bit more coarse. Unlike BCC, Rehai is bolted lead climbing. Climbs are short, and difficulty is mostly in the 5.8-5.10 range.

The crag is in a forested area and goes on quite a while. Even when you’d think the crag ends, if you keep on walking the ridgeline you will likely find another area.

Online Guidebook (Please select “Rehai” on the table of contents in the left column.)

More Beta is available @ MountainProject

Big Cannon Cliff 大炮岩

Region: Taipei,  Xinbeitou

UPDATE – Big Cannon Cliff is now officially illegal to climb at. Enter at risk of a $15,000 fine.

Location: Big Cannon Cliff, YangMingShan

Type of Climbing:  Top rope, a little bit of bouldering and trad

Rating:  

Directions: From Beitou Metro station, take the 小25（S25） or 230 in the Yangmingshan（陽明山） direction. Get off at stop “DaHuangZui(大磺嘴).” Walk down the road and you will see after about 5 minutes a yellow sign on your left – this is the access trail. Follow the trail up to the right. Alternatively, you can go by bus to the stop “Dunxu High School of Industry and Commerce” and walk around 700M downhill to the trailhead.

Notes:  Short technical climbing on Yangmingshan, mostly face climbing. With beautiful scenery and hot springs nearby, BCC is a nice, convenient crag right outside Taipei.  It is also among the earliest climbing areas in Taiwan.  Be warned though – the grading here is very hard and most of the climbs here aren’t easy.  Beginners may have a tough time adjusting compared to Long Dong. Approach is short from the main mountain road.

The rock is Volcanic Andesite.  Holds are much smaller than at Long Dong. Climbs here can get quite technical and range from about 5 to 9m high. Difficulty goes from 5.8 up to hard 5.12d. Expect crimps, pockets,  cracks… and more (slopey) crimps. If you have a pad there are some decent boulder problems to tackle.

Hike to the top of the cliff to find glue-ins for top rope anchors on some climbs(see pictures). On other routes you will have to set up your own anchors using trees, bushes, etc.

Gear needed:  Any Rope 30m or more is fine. Slings/webbing, lockers to set up top rope anchors. Something to pad the rope over an edge is a good idea too. Trad climbing is  a possibility on a number of routes but can get bold at times. Tricams have been recommended.

If you want to use natural anchors you will need a LOT of static cord or webbing since most of the solid trees are about 5-20 meters away from the cliff.

Topo:

Ron’s Taiwan Climbing Page - a guidebook with Topos. Ron translated and enhanced an old guide originally created by Milk, a veteran of the Taiwan Climbing scene.

Climbio page for BCC.

Thanks to 郭寶 for guiding us here

Feng Shan Bouldering Area 豐山抱石

 

Region: Chiayi/Nantou area (South Central Taiwan)

Location: Shigupan Tourist Bridge, Alishan Township

Description:　Feng Shan is a riverbed Bouldering crag in Chiayi county. The area is undergoing active development, and a simple guidebook has been put together by Roger Wu.

Because of the active development status of this crag, we recommend climbers going here to not only  bring a copy of the guidebook, but also keep track of their ascents and boulders they climb.

How to get there: 

Topo: Topo Pictures by Roger Wu and fellow climbers

More info: Taiwan Outdoor Bouldering Facebook Page

Weather: Weather Report(Chinese)

photos by Kicker Chen

Shoushan 壽山

Region: Kaohsiung

Location: Take the stairs into the forest around “69 QianGuang road”

Description:  Sharp Limestone sport crag in Kaohsiung City.

More Beta: available @ Mountain Project

Photos courtesy Jim Althans

Neihu Sports Center Climbing Gym 內湖運動中心 攀岩場

Description: staffed by good climbers, this Sports center climbing center has a pair of 15m tall outdoor walls, as well as a small but well maintained indoor bouldering section.
Offers: Sport Climbing & Top-Roping up to 15m, Bouldering up to 3m

Location: 台北市內湖區洲仔街12號
Schedule: 9AM to 10PM
Phone:02-26560052

Price: Bouldering $50. Lead Climbing $200. With a special discount card (好爬卡) you get a 20% off for 10 entries.

Rating:  

Notes: The best roped climbing in Taipei, Neihu has a near-vertical(5 degree overhang)wall, as well as a seriously steep overhang lead wall with a wicked roof section. Managed by a top setting team, the routes here on both walls are consistently high quality.

If you like getting high, get your butt to Neihu.

Danshui Sports Center Climbing Wall

Description：Bring your own belay card, show it to the front desk, and you’re solid.

Climbing: Toprope, Lead(12m)

Location: Danshui Sports Center (新北市淡水區中山北路二段381巷2號）

Hours:  1pm-9:30pm  daily

Phone： (02)2626 1891

Fees:

• $150. Please show your belay card

Thanks to “foreplay” for the photos!

Shulin Climbing Tower 樹林攀岩塔

Location: 台北縣樹林市水源街81號

Type of Climbing: Sport Climbing & Lead Climbing up to 13m

Description: Shulin Tower is the tallest climbing Tower in Taipei.
In Fall of 2013 Shulin was “renovated” with local climbing panels and holds similar to those used at Wenshan Sports Center.

Covered from the Rain: No

Hours: 8am-10pm(Lighted at night)

Pricing: During the day, $50 per person. In the evenings（after 6pm),  $80 per person,.

Payable at the office by the tennis courts.

photos courtesy Jim Althans

Climbing tower at Liugong Park 瑠公公園攀岩場

Region: Taipei – Xindian

Map : Outdoor Wall Map

Directions ： Come out of Exit 1 and make a left. Keep on walking until you see a park on your left. This is LiuGong Park. Walk a bit further until you can see the climbing tower in the park.

Offers :  lead climbing (7m)

Rating:  

Notes:  No set hours — Park lights turn off at midnight. A few holds are loose – be careful! Good for beginners because of short routes.

Covered from rain : No。

Guting Riverside Park Bouldering

Region: Taipei

Description: The GongGuan wall, as it is known, is a bolted 4 meter high “bouldering” wall located in the riverside park near the GongGuan area. The landing is firm rubber tile, ok until the red line but for serious bouldering a pad is recommended.

Location:Outdoor Wall Map  Despite the name, the wall is located closer to GongGuan around NTU

Offers : Bouldering (~4m), The World’s Shortest lead climbing

Covered from rain: Yes

Rating:  

Notes:  While not an ideal place to do actual bouldering without a pad, the holds and angles make  traversing here surprisingly resistant. Good endurance training, just watch out for the spinners!

The short nature of the wall makes no sense for actual lead climbing but does make it a good place to practice basic outdoor lead climbing skills such as clipping, rappelling and cleaning in a relatively safe setting.  But don’t actually take a lead fall here — as the wall tops out around 4m, you have a good chance of hitting either the ground or your hapless belayer.

Neihu Sports Park Bouldering Area 內湖運動公園抱石場

Offers: Bouldering(4m)
Location: Outdoor Wall Map 

Covered from rain?: sort of

Rating:  

Notes: Not a bad place to boulder — when it’s dry. Hold variety isn’t good, but there’s a good amount of climbing area at various angles.

Although the bouldering walls are covered from the rain by an angular roof, the mats are not, and poor drainage means that bouldering even hours after the rain is akin to Deep Water Soloing

However, recently the 45 wall has gotten new, Nicros holds. For V5 boulderers and up, this is the best training wall in Taipei.

Neihu Sports Park is now added to ClimbIO. Log on to check out routes or add your own.

 photos for Routesetting

Yonghe Lions Climbing Wall 永和獅子攀岩廣場

Location:　福和運動公園 

Offers: Lead climbing(8m), Top Roping – if you bring your own rope

Covered from rain?: No

Rating:  

Notes: This climbing wall is in family-friendly FuHe sports park, which gives it a nice neighborly atmosphere. Trash cans and places to sit are plentiful. During the day a lot of kids play in the area and will come and try their hands at the wall.  We recommend coming later in the day around sunset when parents will generally start taking their kids home.

A few holds are loose but the walls are in generally good condition.

There are stairs that go behind the wall and let you access the anchors, so if you don’t want to lead climb you could set up a top rope.

This place is ok but it’s not a big wall so there’s not a lot of “replay value”

Tsinghua University Climbing Center

Region: Hsinchu

Location: National Tsinghua University (新竹市光復路二段101號)

Offers:  Lead Climbing(15m), Top-Roping, Bouldering Cave

Hours：no formal restrictions, although there is no lighting at night unless you work it out with the mountain club. The climbing club meets here on Monday and Thursday nights 8-10pm

Covered From Rain: No

Notes： Since this is a university wall, please respect the university environment and give students and mountain club members priority.

Thanks to Yun-yin Huang for the info, and 邱 榮東 for pictures

Outdoor Fun Taiwan Climbing Wall

Address: No. 330, Section 2, Chóngdé Rd, Beitun District Taichung City
Type of Climbing: Lead(15m), Bouldering

Hours: No hard restriction, but Outdoor Fun prefers climbers use the wall during shop opening hours(10am – 9:30pm).

Climbing demo session is held Saturdays 3-5pm during which you can go and rent equipment for $100TWD.

Fee: $100 on Saturday afternoons 3-5pm for climbing + gear rental, $0 otherwise.

 

Thanks to Hawk Stone for this information!

 

 

NCHU Climbing Wall

Location: National Chung Hsing University, by the Track

Description: A fairly well designed and maintained University wall.  Please contact the NCHU Mountain Club to use. The Wall has vertical face on the back.

Type of Climbing: Lead(12m), Top rope(anchors accessible by stairs)

Covered from Rain: No

Lighted at Night: Yes

Hours: Monday, Thursday 7pm-10pm. Saturday 2pm-6pm

Notes:  This university climbing wall is open to the public as long as you get permission fom the NCHU Mountain Club.  Since it’s a university wall, if students or climbers from the mountain club are there, they have priority.  Please be respectful of the university environment and students.

Photos by NCHU Mountain Club. Thanks to 黃智威 for this information

TungHai University

Location:  TungHai University Running Track

Type of Climbing:  Lead Climbing/top roping) up to 12m

Description: This is  a school climbing wall.

Hours：

Open to the public Wednesdays 7:30-10pm

For other hours, please contact the TungHai University Mountain Club.

Fee: $100

Covered from the Rain: No.

Lighted at night: Yes.

Notes:

A lot of Tunghai climbers also go to B1. We recommend taichung climbers  interested in lead climbing here to either come on Wednesday nights, or go to B1 to meet other taichung climbers, and you will probably be able to come outside of the official hours.

This is a university wall so please be mindful and respectful of students around you.  The Mountain club meets here regularly so if you see them please give them, and any other university students, priority.

 

Thanks to 黃智威 for this information

National Tung Hwa University Climbing Wall

Location: Right by the Track of National Dong Hwa University 國立東華大學(志學村大學路2段1號人社二館)

Directions: The wall is in a former theater behind an old gym by the track. Please check the map link provided above.

Type of Climbing:  Lead Climbing/top roping) up to 6m , plus a wicked roof climb spanning the entrance of the gym.

Description: Short but well built gym with a killer roof climb. This is  a school gym so please get in touch with the Dong Hwa University Mountain club before climbing here.

Covered from the Rain: Yes.

Lighted at night: Yes.

Rating:  

Notes:

This is a university wall so please be mindful and respectful of students around you.  The Mountain club meets here regularly so if you see them please give them, and any other university students, priority.

 

Thanks to 郭寶 and Fang Hsiang for this information!

Kunshan Tech Bouldering Wall

Location: Kunshan Tech, by the gym (崑山科技大學，體育館旁邊）

Type of Climbing: Bouldering, 5m

Notes： This is a university climbing area. Please respect the university environment and give priority to students and mountain club members.

photos courtesy Jim Althans

National Cheng Kung University Wall

Location: north side of National Cheng Kung University Student Activity Center（學生活動中心北側）

Type of Climbing: Lead(15m)

Notes: This is a university wall. Please respect the university environment and give priority to university students and mountain club members.

 

photos courtesy Jim Althans

Shoushan Junior High Climbing Wall – 壽山國中攀岩場

Location: 台灣高雄市鼓山區鼓山二路37巷壽山國中

Type of Climbing: Lead Climbing up to 15m, Bouldering

Description: Walls are built by Entreprises and of international competition quality. Has a Speed Climbing wall, as well as a separate bouldering area.

Covered from the Rain: Yes

Hours：Weekdays 6:30pm-12 midnight. Weekends “all day”, although on weekends, it’s best to check with Microrock before going to make sure people will be there.

Pricing: $100 per time, or  Membership(half year) – Contact The MicroRock climbing club as per below!

Notes: This wall is maintained by Microrock Climbing Club and you should contact them to use it. Because their main website is in Chinese, it may be wise to try sending a message to Steven Chen or Alec Lin on the MicroRock Facebook group

Photo credit EP Taiwan