Discover Hong Kong woodland walks: five places to enjoy nature as you hike or stroll far from the concrete jungle
- Whether it’s a tree-lined path from The Peak to Pok Fu Lam or ambling along Plover Cove Reservoir’s forested trail, nature is never far away
- Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve, Shing Mun Reservoir and Pak Tam Chung are other swathes of greenery worth searching out
“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees,” American essayist and philosopher Henry David Thoreau is quoted as having said. Given that this year in Hong Kong has been remarkable for too many of the wrong reasons, we could no doubt all do with some of that magic.
Happily, there are hiking, paths that are near the city along which you can hug a tree, while listening to streams cascade over rocks, cicadas buzz and birds call from dense cover. Here are five places to try.
The Peak to Pok Fu Lam
An easy wooded walk starts close by the bus terminus on the Peak and follows Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road downhill. A couple of minutes beyond the traffic barrier, you’re descending a tree-covered slope, the rest of the world lost from view.
From the occasional open area can be seen hillsides that may seem surprisingly green given you’re on Hong Kong Island. A stream tumbles over small waterfalls on the right before joining a larger stream, which flows through a ravine below the road, and can become a torrent after summer rains, surging over a weir before pouring into Pok Fu Lam Reservoir.
Getting there: The many options for getting to the Peak include minibus No 1 from Central; and from below Pok Fu Lam Reservoir, you can catch a bus to the city.
