Yangmingshan National Park and Yehliu Geopark Day Trip from Taipei

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Are you curious about visiting the best nature accessible from downtown Taipei? Combining Yangmingshan National Park and Yehliu Geopark as a day trip from Taipei is the best way to enjoy Northern Taiwan’s nature. Located within the boundaries of Taipei and New Taipei City, these two iconic destinations are the easiest and best way to escape the urban buzz, packed with both cultural and natural experiences.  

Yangmingshan, a volcanic formation,  is renowned for hiking trails, diverse ecosystems, and geothermal hot springs. Yehliu showcases unique sandstone geological formations jutting into the sea. You can customize the day to take it easy and just enjoy the soft nature of being outdoors, or tackle some more challenging hikes and adventures. Thankfully, there are a lot of day trips and customization options, so you can make this your day. 

Whether you’re planning to hire a driver or navigate on your own, this complete travel guide covers everything you need to know to plan the perfect Yangmingshan and Yehliu day trip from Taipei.

With only 4 days in Taipei, we wanted to spend most of our time getting a feel for the city. But seeing as Taipei is surrounded by so much incredible nature, we would have been remiss not to get out into said nature on a day trip.

We hired a private local driver to take us straight from our hotel to hike in Yangmingshan National Park. From there, we hopped over to Yehliu’s coast and made it back downtown in time for evening cocktails.

This guide outlines the exact tour we booked and follows in our footsteps for details on how to customize it for your own day.

Quick Look: Taipei to Yangmingshan and Yehliu Day Trip

One of the best day trips from Taipei is to the incredible nature of Yangmingshan National Park and Yehliu Geopark. Yangmingshan is ideal for nature, including hiking and relaxing in hot springs, while Yehliu has fascinating geological formations and coastal walks.  

Visit both in one day with a customizable day trip to make it your own. 

The best way to visit Yangmingshan and Yehliu is with a local guide and driver on a fully customizable day trip. We booked this exact trip and customized it to suit our taste. We found the value for money great, and our driver gave us lots of local insights, kept us safe and got us to our exact trailhead of choice without complications. 

Keep reading for all the details on how to make this day trip your own!

About Yangmingshan National Park

Taiwan, a breathtaking island of cultural heritage and incredible nature, has 9 national parks, including this one inside New Taipei City, which makes for a great day trip.

Yangmingshan National Park is located on the northern edge of the Taipei Basin, covering an area of about 11,334 hectares, with elevation ranging from 56 to 1,120 meters above sea level.

The dominant feature in Yangmingshan is Qixing Mountain, the dormant volcano that now stands as one of Taiwan’s tallest peaks and is part of the Tatun Volcanic Group. While there haven’t been any volcanic eruptions for millions of years, the ecology and geology of the area are still very much influenced by this earlier volcanic activity, with many hot springs, sulphur deposits, fumaroles, and craters to see throughout the park.

The climate is unique due to the park’s latitude, elevation above sea level, and the influence of the northeast monsoon, leading to different types of habitat along with diverse flora and fauna.

In particular, several endemic Taiwanese species can be found here, including the Formosan macaque, Formosan wild boar, Reeves’s muntjac, Formosan pangolin, Formosan greater horseshoe bat, Formosan lesser horseshoe bat, Formosan leaf-nosed bat, and Taiwan tube-nosed bat.

Vegetation here is also unique, with three major categories: aquatic, grassland and forest vegetation. Some plants, like the Formosan gentian and weelstamen tree, grow here even though they’re usually found at altitudes of 2,000 meters above sea level.

Yangmingshan National Park is just as popular with locals as with visitors, with incredible scenery that changes throughout the year, particularly in spring with lots of flowers and blossoming trees, and in autumn due to the changing of the leaves.

Of course, Yangmingshan National Park was set up to protect the unique flora, fauna, and geology of the area, but there are also specific conservation programs in place. These include managing invasive plant species to protect native habitats, working with local farmers to ensure eco-friendly, pesticide-free agriculture in the area, and even Taiwan’s first specialized animal underpasses to reduce roadkill incidents.

A few of the best things to do in Yangmingshan National Park include:

• Hiking to the peak of Qixingshan (Seven Star Mountain)
• Seeing calla lilies and hydrangeas at Zhuzihu (Bamboo Lake)
• Spotting the Yangmingshan Flower Clock, a clock made out of flowers!
• Seeing volcanic fumaroles at Xiaoyoukeng and Dayoukeng
• Visiting the traditional hot springs at Lengshuikeng (the name means “cold water” because at around 40°C/104°F, these hot springs are not as hot as most!)
• Learn more about the park at the Headquarters Visitor Center

About Yehliu Geopark

Yehliu Geopark is located on a cape that stretches out from the town of Wanli. Its history begins with that of the island of Taiwan when it was formed around six million years ago. The movement of tectonic plates pushed the Datun Mountains into the sea.

Erosion over time created top-heavy hoodoos and unique geological formations. These formations have become famous landmarks, based on what they appear to be. There is the ever-famous Fairy Shoe, the Queen’s Head, Princess Head, Candlestick Rock, and more. 

Tour buses drop people off here, and they all wait in line to take the same photo with or of the Queen’s Head. But the area has so much more to offer, and it’s easy to get away from the crowds. Hike to the end of the trail viewpoint to get a look at Tofu Rocks, a lighthouse, and stunning ocean views. 

While most people come for the geology and rocks, the area is also a biodiversity hotspot, with the cape helping Yeh­liu become a home for wildlife, sea life and bird life. The park is also home to more than 200 plant species, while two ocean currents in the water are rich in nutrients, bringing diverse marine life.

Yehliu is also some to a small fishing village. Home of the Basai people, who are indigenous to Taiwan, living here long before the Chinese arrived. Their village is small, but it is worth a visit if you have time. We are vegetarians and do have some issues with Taiwan’s commercial fishing practics, so we did not eat any meals here, but the streets are charming to wander.

Skip the aquapark. Taiwan, Japan, and China are some of the only remaining places with captive cetceans in in small tanks. Worse yet, they still activly harvest wild-caught dolphins. Avoid any aquariums and aquaparks in the area.

Important Info for Visiting

Hours: 8 am – 5 pm, seven days a week (9 am – 6 pm in July and August)

Admission: NT$120 for adults (about USD$3.80)

Booking a Customizable Tour

Yehliu isn’t worth visiting on its own, as it’s a smaller site, which is why it is the perfect add-on to a trip to Yangmingshan National Park. There are a lot of tours that take you to both places, treating each as just a surface-level quick stop, packing in other sites like Jiufen as well. 

We didn’t love all the pre-packaged tours, as we like a little more independence to visit places at our leisure and on our own. We also considered tackling both of these sites with public transportation. However, with buses running on limited schedules in rural areas, it would literally take us ALL day, with longer waits at bus stops. 

Booking a fully customizable private transfer with a driver was the ideal solution! We were pleasantly surprised by the price too; for a half-day tour, the value was quite reasonable.

This is the exact highly rated tour we booked on Klook. This was my first time booking anything on Klook, which is popular in Asia, and I was a little nervous, but everything was wonderful. Our driver was on time, spoke excellent English, and fully understood the complexities of our customization requests. 

When making a booking, make sure you select an English-speaking guide. For the fully customizable option, select G and add details of the sites you want to see. For us, that meant hiking to Mt. Qixing Main Peak (about 3 hours), then visiting Yehliu Geopark.

Option G does require you to have knowledge of what you want to do. It wasn’t enough for us to tell our driver we wanted to hike; we had this exact AllTrails Route downloaded so we could show him the trailhead parking lot. 

There are lots of hikes on AllTrails, so find one that is ideal for you and your ability.

Of course, if the pre-packaged options are good for you, select A-F based on your interests. 

• Itinerary: G Customized Private Tour (or another of your choice)
• Cost: CAD $160 for both of us in the car
• Pickup from your hotel. For us, that was Hotel Proverbs

How Else to Get To Yangmingshan and Yehliu

If you already have a car rental and are exploring the island of Taiwan with a personal vehicle, you can visit any of the sites in the national park or geopark at your leisure. Just make sure you have an international driver’s license and pre-book your car.

The bus network around Taipei and New Taipei City is well-connected, so you can also catch the bus to the parking lot for the trailhead to Qixing Main Peak.

There is even a bus that goes from the parking lot of the trailhead to the geopark. You will want to time everything well so you don’t get stranded anywhere. It will be a long day with the bus, but it is doable. Just follow Google Maps!

Our Day Trip Experience to Yangmingshan and Yehliu

After pre-booking our tour on Klook and confirming everything with the driver, our pickup was set for 7 am from our hotel. 

The driver was on time and picked us up right from the doorstep. Our tour was on a Sunday morning, and the minimal morning traffic made for a relaxing trip out of the city. As we left the skyscrapers behind, we eventually started winding our way up the narrow roads of Yangmingshan National Park. 

Our driver was very engaged and shared a lot of local knowledge and insights with us, offering his favourite food spots (though he didn’t quite know about many vegetarian options, he did try). We really enjoyed learning about Taiwan’s history and cultural insights into politics and equality in the country. 

We knew exactly the hike we wanted to take, so we made sure to have the exact trailhead parking lot, and he got us there quickly and safely. He waited in the car for about 2.5 hours while we hiked to the Main Peak of Qixing, which gave us enough time for hiking and stopping for photos and snacks. 

The trail took us up through forest, along a pond and wetland, then through a stunning grassland. We had a lot of stops with sweeping views of Taipei’s urban sprawl. We enjoyed talking to fellow hikers, who were all friendly. Once we reached the peak, we especially had a lot of conversations with everyone at the summit, meeting people from all over the world and many locals. 

The hike is moderate, with steep sections, uneven terrain, and rocky portions. Make sure you have good hiking shoes, water, snacks, sunscreen, layers, and athletic clothing. The weather can change dramatically as you near the summit, so again, layers are key!

The driver was waiting for us in the parking lot, and he quickly set off to Yehliu. Yehliu was a lot more crowded than the hike, so the driver let us in at the gate and gave us a time to be back at the parking lot. 

Admission is not included in the tour, so we bought tickets and set off into the Geopark. The Geopark is a very popular tourist attraction, and I can see some people getting annoyed by the crowds. The key here is to not get caught up in the few popular hoodoos. Explore at your own leisure, don’t wait too long for photos, and get away from the main area by visiting the end of the trail out by the lighthouse. 

That being said, the hoodoo formations are fun, so do take time to see a few of them as you explore. The coastal scenery out this way is just stunning, so our favourite part was the headland. 

After fully exploring, we made it back to the parking lot to meet our driver. He dropped us off back at the hotel, and the traffic back into the city was much worse, but the car was comfortable, and the conversation was nice. 

Tips for Visiting

What to Pack

Taiwan can get very hot in the summer. We visited in late October, and the heat and humidity were still overwhelming. Bring cool, athletic clothing and lots of sun protection.

Yehliu, in particular, has hardly any shade or protection from the sun. You will be in the blasting sun and heat in both the summer and autumn, so stay cool and hydrated. 

Winter and spring can bring a lot of rain, so a breathable rain jacket is a good idea. For hiking, pack your hiking shoes and a backpack with water and snacks.

Crowds and Expectations

Both Yangmingshan and Yehliu are well worth visiting as long as you have the right mindset and treat them as more than just something to tick off a checklist. One of the reasons we didn’t like some of the pre-packaged tours is that they visited numerous stops for only a short time. 

That doesn’t allow you to get away from the main sights to explore more thoroughly. Yehliu, in particular, is known for being a tour bus stop, so floods of people visit all at once. Slow down, get away from the main photo ops, and enjoy the natural ecology and learning to make the most of your trip.

Tipping Your Guide

We made sure to have cash on hand to tip our guide. He spent all day with us as a driver, and while he was more of a driver who got us from A to B than someone who hiked with us, we still wanted to give him a tip. We gave him cash that was about 15% of our trip total. 

Alternatives to Hiking

If you’re not into hiking, or don’t have any hiking clothing, there are many alternatives in Yangmingshan. You can visit the Beitou Hot Springs, local museums, or other nature parks that aren’t as physically demanding. 

Comment and Share Yangmingshan National Park and Yehliu Geopark

As you can see, a day trip to Yangmingshan National Park and Yehliu Geopark is one of the best ways to get out into nature from Taipei.

Whether you want to do challenging hikes, explore the volcanic geology, or just ogle some interesting rock formations, there are many fascinating experiences on offer within a short distance from the city.

Which part of our day trip do you think you might like to do for yourself? Let me know in the comments, share this guide with anyone you think might also be interested, and don’t forget to pin one of these to your Taiwan travel planning boards!