Fuzhoushan Park and other Taipei 101 viewpoints

You could visit these viewpoints as an alternative to the very touristy Elephant Mountain or, as I did, in addition to it. I started my walk at Houshanpi Metro Station, visited many of the great viewpoints along the Sishou and Nangang mountain ranges, and then descended at Elephant Mountain—see the separate post about the best viewpoints of Taipei 101. But instead of finishing there, I continued to these nearby locations. Unfortunately, I ended up climbing the wrong peak which didn’t offer a good view, and as it was getting dark and my phone battery was running low, I decided to stop. However, I later returned to explore the area properly.

Map of area

1. Taipei 101 Tower; 2. Elephant Mountain; 3. Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Park; 4. Fuzhoushan Park, Zhongpushan, and Fuyang Eco Park.

Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Park

There is a small hill with some viewpoints that I found using the Maps.me application. According to Google, it is called Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Park. It has some decent views of Taipei 101, though not from a very high angle. I walked as far as a cemetery, but the first viewpoints near the starting point turned out to be better than those further east.

Fuzhoushan Park, Zhongpushan, and Fuyang Eco Park

Several viewpoints can be found in Fuzhoushan Park and on Zhongpushan, the mountain next to it. If you’re doing this hike as a separate walk rather than an extension of the Elephant Mountain hike, you could start at Liuzhangli Metro Station, pass through Fuzhoushan Park, Zhongpushan, and Fuyang Eco Park, and finish at Linguang Metro Station. This is the order in which the photos appear in this post, but if you’re coming from Elephant Mountain or Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Park, you might want to do it in reverse. In my opinion, the best views are from Fuzhoushan Park, which is easy and quick to reach. Zhongpushan is higher and offers a broader view, but three buildings are currently under construction, and once completed, they will block much of the scenery. There is also a dangerous route that should be avoided, which I discovered the hard way. However, there is a safer path that can be taken instead. Read on to see the details.

Route map

1. Fuzhoushan Park entrance; 2. First viewpoint; 3. Second viewpoint; 4. Fuzhoushan, third viewpoint; 5. Partial views; 6. Junction; 7. Asphalt road; 8. Junction with shelter; 9. Junction & stairway to top; 10. Ridge; 11. Zhongpushan East Peak with shelter; 12. Viewpoint; 13. Main peak of Zhongpushan; 14. Temple (shrine); 15. Obstructed viewpoint; 16. Wetland area; 17. Junction; 18. Fuyang Eco Park entrance.

Area maps on information boards

Approaching Fuzhoushan Park, coming from the Liuzhangli Metro Station.

The climb in Fuzhoushan Park.

The first observation deck offers a limited view.

Further up, the second observation deck has better views.

Little further on, without any more climbs, you reach the third observation deck which has similar views as the second.

From here, you could descend directly to Fuyang Eco Park, or carry on to Zhongpushan, as I did.

Along the way, you get some partial views in different directions.

When you reach the area where the high voltage cables are, there is a junction. This is the way to Fuyang Eco Park which we take when returning from the peak. Now the path carries on straight ahead.

When you reach an asphalt road, you could take it, it also leads to the peak, but you can still carry on the dirt path in the woods.

This shelter is at an important junction. If you carry on straight, you get to a dangerous part, like I did. So instead take the path or road to the right. But here are the pictures and descriptions of the dangerous route as well.

This path will lead to an area where ropes are provided and you have to climb up a steep rock wall.

From the top of the climb, you get great views, but it is not different at all from Zhongpushan East Peak which is just above this point.

The path then skirts around under the rocky peak, with a big drop on the other side. After rain, it can be slippery - in fact, I slipped at this point.

I was lucky that I was holding the rope, and as I fell I managed to hang on to it with one hand, dangling in the air like in a Holywood movie.

Otherwise I would have fallen down here - it didn't look like certain death, but I would have suffered some injuries, maybe serious ones.

Once I managed to get back to the path, a few more steps led to the main path and the peak.

Now, let's go back to this shelter where I chose the wrong way. It is important not to carry on straight, but to take the asphalt road or the dirt path in the woods to the right. They will joing again at a stairway, so it doesn't matter which one you take. The path is also safe.

This is the junction where the asphalt road and the dirt path join again at a stairway that leads to the top.

Now the path leads along the ridge until you get to a shelter at Zhongpushan East Peak.

Just before the shelter, to the left, is where the dangerous route joins.

Zhongpushan East Peak with a shelter and great views. But the views will be limited once those buildings with blue scaffolding are constructed.

You can carry on beyound Zhongpushan East Peak, but you won't get any better views.

After a viwepoint marked in Maps.me, I returned to the shelter at Zhongpushan East Peak, but carried on behind it.

At this junction, you could descend back to where you came from, or carry on to the main peak of Zhongpushan.

The main peak of Zhongpushan - there are no views at all, but you can descend to a little temple on the other side.

A little temple - or shrine - with a little view.

The path continues steeply downward.

Maps.me marked this spot as a viewpoint, but as you can see a new-growth tree blocks the view.

A little more descent will take you back to the junction where the asphalt road and the path join.

This time let's take the asphalt road, and it will lead to the same shelter where I first took the wrong way.

From the shelter, you have to carry on the same way you came.

At the electric cables, the way to Fuyang Eco Park is to the right.

Reaching a wetland area in the Fuyang Eco Park.

The path carries on down until you get to a junction.

These steps to the left lead to Fuzhoushan Park.

A bit further, there are steps to the right. This is where I went the very first time, coming from Elephant Mountain and Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Park. As you can see on the photos, there are no views at all from this area, so don't get tempted to find out what's there.