Most locals swim in the impressive pools at the bootom of the canyon on Lupi Stream 鹿皮溪. From the swimming pools it is a challenging 60-90 minute trace up the beautiful Lupi Stream 鹿皮溪 to the main 25 meter Jinyue Waterfall 金岳瀑布. Start early to avoid the crowds of local barbequers and river tracing outfits.
Nanao 南澳鄉 is the southern most coastal township of Ilan county, bordering on Hualien county.
Leigh discovers that a couple of frogs have traveled in his river tracing booty from Jinyue Waterfall 金岳瀑布 to Aohua Waterfall 澳花瀑布.
Aohua Waterfall 澳花瀑布 is in a deep valley 6 kilometers northwest from Aohua Village. The area is not developed though the waterfall is accessed via a rode up to a mining quarry. The deep pool at the base of the falls is 80 meters long and 60 meters wide. The trail is reached after a 20 minute drive on a partially unpaved miing road from before crossing the Dazhuoshui river 大濁水溪 in Heping 和平. From the end of the road, the falls is only a 15 minute walk.
There is a short slot canyon starting just to left of the falls going behind the waterfall.
We turn around at the unlit, wet and unpaved Badagang tunnel 巴達崗隧道 entrance frequented only by gravel trucks.
Gufeng waterfall 谷風瀑布, also called Purple falls 紫明瀑布 is just off highway 9 (Suhua Highway 蘇花公路), about a kilometer south of the Hanben train station 漢本火車站. The dual falls drop about 20m over a slippery black cliff into pools retained by cement works.
We camped at Nanao Farms 南澳農場露營區 just south of Nanao river 南澳溪 in the Nanao delta. The camp site offers free camping with warm showers in a pleasant park just a few minutes drive from Nanao and the trailhead to Jinyue Waterfall 金岳瀑布.
Suao 蘇澳 located in southern Yilan 宜蘭 County is an urban township famous for seafood restaurants and cold springs. Two large harbors: Su'ao Port, a multi-function seaport houses a naval base; and Nanfang-ao Port is a major fishing port of Taiwan.
