Taroko National Park - Hualien - TravBuddy

Taroko National Park is situated in the eastern part of Taiwan. It's most famous for scenery along the east west cross island highway, and also Suhua coastal highway going north along the coast. There are also many nature trails to explore. I had been there many times since I was a kid, but I have not even come close to seeing it all. Plan to take your camera, hiking shoes, flash light, rain coat (for the waterfall) and just enjoy the nature and natural wonders around. You can easily spend 2-3 days here, but if you just have one day, you can visit it from Taipei. It's only about 2 hours train ride (take the special Taroko route train). Ideally you want to stay in Hualien, drive the Suhua coastal highway (to see Cingshui Cliffs), and also stay in Tiansiang, to explore the many sights and trails from that base.

The marble cliffs several hundred meters high, carved by the Liwu River through the mountains (highest at 3742m inside Taroko National Park border) to the Pacific Ocean, made simply spectacular natural wonders that you have to see to experience fully. It's so hard to take photos showing the magnitude of the place because the gorge is very narrow.

The park is rich in plants, flowers and animals (90% of birds in Taiwan and more than 50% of butterflies species in Taiwan) can be found in the park which encompass an area of almost 1/4 million acres!