Campground in front of Tianchi Lodge in central Taiwan to begin charging fees

台灣中部的天池山莊前營地開始收費

The Nenggao Cross Ridge Trail is a popular mountaineering route that connects Ren'ai Township in Nantou County and Xiulin Township in Hualien County


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) –The campground in front of Tianchi Lodge (天池山莊), an important mountain hut on the Nenggao Cross Ridge Trail (能高越嶺步道), will begin to charge fees on Jan. 1, 2019, according to a news release posted on Taiwan’s Forestry Bureau on Nov. 29.

The Nenggao Cross Ridge Trail is a popular mountaineering route that connects Ren'ai Township in Nantou County and Xiulin Township in Hualien County.

The trail is 26 kilometers in length from the Tuenyuen trailhead (屯原登山口) on the west to the Cilai trailhead (奇萊登山口) on the east, with elevations ranging between 1,500 meters and 2,800 meters above sea level.

Tianchi Lodge, which is situated 2,860 above sea level, is 13 kilometers from the Tunyuan trailhead and a must-stay mountain lodge for mountaineers climbing such high mountains as Chilai Southern Peak, Nanhua Mountain and Chilai Main Peak from the Tuenyuen trailhead.

As increasing numbers of mountaineers are exceeding the accommodation capacity of Tianchi Lodge, the Forestry Bureau’s Nantou Forest District Office has cleaned out the open space in front of the mountain lodge, where mountaineers used to camp out, and turned the space into a campsite with 19 small berths, three large births, and campsite facilities, the Forestry Bureau said. The campsite is estimated to be able to accommodate a maximum of 100 campers, the bureau said, adding that, with the new campsite the mountain lodge can now accommodate a total of 188 mountaineers per day.

The price for a small birth (3m x 3m) is NT$500 on regular days and NT$600 on weekends and holidays, and NT$700 for a large berth (4m x 4m) on weekdays and NT$800 on weekends and holidays, according to the bureau.

For online booking and additional information, please refer to the mountain lodge’s official website.