River traces around Keelung, Taiwan

1. Nate Ball

   River:

   半屏溪 / Bàn píng xī

   Area:

   Keelung

   Region:

   North

   Start:

   25.12228, 121.87934

   Also known as Dagui Waterfall (大鬼瀑布), the destination waterfall and pool. Most people stop here, though it is passable - quite treacherous if there is no rope. There is an extremely tall waterfall much further past this. There are trails on the west side you can take to return (passing abandoned buildings) if you don't want to return in the water, t ... hough you will have to drop back into the concrete trough at the end to get out. Often has better weather in early summer than Yangmingshan and Wulai. I made a spreadsheet of the best river traces in northern Taiwan, check it out here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15QNhE9z3lhwz33C6V4P11dljPzWafFGKowzTi9Wrkjg

   

   Posted Nov 10, 2025
2. Gino

   River:

   半屏溪 / Bàn píng xī

   Area:

   Keelung

   Region:

   North

   Start:

   25.122280, 121.879145

   A short fairly easy river trace located within an hour of Taipei. The river and surrounding rocks contain tons of pretty colors. In the end, you will be rewarded with a beautiful waterfall sitting behind a perfect swimming pool. Great place for people without much experience to get a taste of river tracing. The first half of the trace is enjoyable t ... hough nothing special. The second half has some great views of the surrounding mountains and feels much more "natural". When you park you can either jump over the fence and find a way into the river on the other side, or you can cross the highway and enter from where the river meets the ocean. It is possible to climb past the waterfall I ended at. It would take some decent climbing skills though and falling would suck so a helmet wouldn't hurt.

   

   Posted Jul 11, 2021