We take a bus to Suao 蘇澳 as COVID pandemic Level 3 is relaxed to level 2. In Suao we rent scooters, drive to Nanao 南澳 and drive up Lupi Forest Rd 鹿皮林道. The road follows Lupi stream 鹿皮溪 above Jinyue waterfall 金岳瀑布. We drive as far as the road allows on our scooters, park and hike in to the steel bridge over the stream where we pitch camp.
Lupi Forest Road 鹿皮林道 is located in Nanao Township 南澳鄉 of Yilan County 宜蘭縣. The road and stream are in the Pingan Creek catchment 平安溪水集. The road was formerly important for supporting commercial activity in the Nanao area and provided important access to the Nanao north river area and was previously named Nanao North Lupi Forest Road 南澳北鹿皮林道. Today the road provides jumping off points for hikes to Ganzitou mountain 柑子頭山 and Lupi mountain 鹿皮山. The original road stretched from Wuta village 武塔村 to Nanao Forest Road 68 南澳事業區68林班. Since the front part of the road was in a designated aborigine protected area, and following numerous natural disasters without repair, today the road can only be explored to the end on foot.
A short walk beyond the bridge takes us back on to the obvious but abandoned road foundation which gently follows the contour. At times a path has been added to get over a landslide. There are still rare tire tracks toward the beginning of our walk. As we arrive to a saddle point the valley opens up but the road crossed the stream on a bridge now washed away to continue climbing up and over toward Nanao North stream. There is a hunter's hut here full of traps immediately following a forestry police patrol box 羅東林區管理處巡邏箱.
