With international travel restricted because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Forestry Bureau has reported a surge in people turning to hiking as a recreational activity, but there have been complaints about the state and safety of some hiking trails.
Beidawushan (北大武山) in Pingtung County drew 27,000 visitors from January to last month, an increase of 10,000 people compared with the same period last year, the bureau said, adding that it expects the annual total to break records.
The visitor counts in July and August were 2,400 and 2,100 respectively, compared with 1,200 and 1,000 last year, it said.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
Wu Te-fa (吳德發), who owns Kuaigu Lodge (檜谷山莊) on the Beidawushan National Trail, said that he has never seen such a crowd in the nine years since he opened the lodge, adding that there were easily 200 to 300 people on the trail per day.
Meanwhile, Taichung City Councilor Chu Nuan-ying (朱暖英) said the Taichung Bureau of Tourism needs to carry out repairs to several hiking paths as soon as possible, citing reports by many hikers of paths that have fallen into severe disrepair, endangering hikers’ lives.
Chu said that the bureau has failed to fully inform hikers of the situation on hiking paths.
One example is the 96.75km trail to the Toubiankeng Bat Cave (頭汴坑蝙蝠洞) in Taiping District (太平), which is in an area prone to landslides and rock falls, but there are no protective facilities or maps along the trail, Chu said.
The bureau should have erected protective facilities along the trail and provided adequate maps, she said.
The trail, touted by the bureau as an “exceptional hiking trail,” has quite a way to go to live up to such standards, she said.
Another dangerous path is the Wan Li Chang Cheng Trail (萬里長城步道) in Tanzi District (潭子), completed in 2005, which is extremely fragmented and has multiple potholes, she said, adding that locals have complained about it for several years, so the bureau needs to repair it as soon as possible as well.
Bureau Director Lin Hsiao-chi (林筱淇) said the Bat Cave trail repair project is now in its third phase, with engineers contracted by the city overseeing the effort to install protective facilities, while the bureau plans to erect signage to aid hikers.
However, repairs to the Wan Li Chang Cheng Trail are under the remit of the Council of Agriculture’s Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, she said, adding that the tourism bureau would contact the council to arrange for an on-site inspection to that a repair schedule could be finalized.
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