Anpingkeng Forest Road 安平坑林道

Liba Industry Road 力霸產業道路 (an alternative name for Anpingkeng Forest Road 安平坑林道) is an 18 kilometer long forest road running through Dongshan 冬山, Nanao 南澳 and Datong 大同 townships of Yilan County 宜蘭縣 in northeast Taiwan continuing from Daan Road 大安路 in Anping Village 安平村 of Dongshan Township 冬山鄉. The length of the steep road is mostly paved except for sections passing through the quarries. At 5.8K there is a cable car relay station for transporting cement, and at 12.9K the entrance to the mining area. At its crest the road presents panoramic vistas overlooking the entire Lanyang Plain 蘭陽平原 and Guishan Island 龜山島 in the Pacific Ocean from an elevation of 1200 meters. The road provides access to Lankan Mountain 蘭崁山 and Dabai Mountain 大白山 trail heads, the two final peaks over 1000 meters in altitude before the central mountain range, stretching from Eluanbi at the southern tip of the island, tracing the spine of the island, dips back into the Pacific at Suao 蘇澳. The road became privately controlled when the Forestry Bureau 林務局 leased the road to the China Rebar Group 力霸水泥 in 1991 as an industrial road to mine limestone 石灰 found in the area. The cement works were renamed after the Rebar Group collapsed and Ruentex Materials 潤泰水泥 assumed the lease. For environmental and other reasons, the quarries along the road were gradually closed down. With the opening up of Taiwan’s 81 Forest Roads to the public in 2019, access to the road servicing the cement quarries was opened to the public on weekends and holidays only. The road crosses the Lanyang River 蘭陽河 and Heping West River 和平溪 catchments.

Nanao North River 南澳北溪

Taiwan is a 36,000 square kilometer subtropical island. Steep mountains over 1,000 meters in elevation cover 32% of the island; hills and terraces between 100 meters and 1,000 meters make up 31%; while alluvial plains below 100 meters, where most human activity is concentrated, cover the remaining 37%. The northeast monsoon prevails from October through March. Typhoons and thunderstorms bring in abundant rainfall from May through September. The mountains are dominated by fractured, and deeply weathered metamorphic and sedimentary rock. Intense rainfall and flow of flood water causes severe erosion which is compounded by earthquakes which undermine the stability of the slopes. The rivers of the island's 16 major watersheds are short and steep, becoming torrential during heavy storms. About 78% of annual precipitation falls from May through October, with most water delivered by storms and typhoons. Average annual rainfall is 2,515 millimeters or 90.5 billion cubic meters. Average annual runoff is 66.8 billion cubic meters, of which only 23% or about 15.4 billion cubic meters are available for use during the dry period from October through April. Annual pumped groundwater is estimated at 7.1 billion cubic meters. The Nanao River 南澳北溪 drains a catchment area of 311.73 square kilometers over its 48.40 kilometers length dropping over and average slope of 1:43. Over the past 42 years, average annual rainfall over the Nanao River watershed has been 2691 mm, with the maximum being 4794 mm in 1998 and the minimum being 1168 mm in 1993.

Yading Hot Springs 芽丁溫泉

Yading hot springs 芽丁溫泉 outcrop emerging from fissures in the schist 片岩 at an altitude of 431 meters on the right bank, is the furthest upstream outcrop known on Nanao North Stream 南澳北溪. Calcium carbonate precipitation 碳酸鈣沉澱 around the spring and the high content of calcium ions 鈣離子 in the spring water may indicate the distribution of marble 大理岩 in the area. Exposed lithology at the outcrop is late paleozoic 古生代晚期, Dongao schist 東澳片岩, graphite schist 石墨片岩 and quartz mica schist 石英雲母片岩. The outcrop stretches over an area of about 20 meters. Measured water temperature is 55 C, with a pH of 6.5, EC (electrical conductivity) of 1148 µ/cm, and TDS (total dissolved solids) of 561 mg/L. Primary measured mineral constituents are Na, Ca, MG, HCO3 and SO4, MG and C. The first upstream outcrop emerges from a fragile sedimentary structure and waterfall stretching a dozen meters above the river level. A cluster of outcrops 50 meters downstream seems to emerge from the river bed and is much hotter. The 20 km drive along the dangerous industrial road of the Yilan limestone mines, steep and long descent down a loose boulder field into Nanao North stream canyon and difficult crossing of the swift river to reach the hot springs outcrops have all contributed to keeping this wild hot spring off the list of popular destinations. Continuing downstream from Yading, in roughly 2-3 km intervals the intrepid tracer will come across 烏帽溫泉 sometimes confused with Yading, 拉卡溫泉 or 五區溫泉 and finally 四區溫泉.

Mammals

• A young Reeves's muntjac (Barking deer) 山羌 (shān qiāng) Muntiacus reevesi crossing the road. The adult is the size of a medium dog, about 50 cm tall with a short tail 10 cm tail. Young are more reddish brown and the larger adults much darker. Males have short antlers. They eat herbs, blossoms, succulent shoots, fungi, berries and grasses. They are called barking deer for their distinctive and somewhat unsettling bark.
• A large mixed group of Formosan rock macaque 台灣獼猴 (tái wān mí hóu) Macaca cyclopis on the road. Macaques live in groups of up to 20. They eat fruits, leaves and insects. Males are slightly bigger than the females.
• We see a Formosan Sambar Deer 臺灣水鹿 (tái wān shuǐ lù) Rusa unicolor swinhoei, the largest native herbivore on rock overlooking the river. It makes its distinctive single high note call. The sambar’s fur color changes with the season to provide camouflage. It is yellowish-brown in the summer and dark brown in the winter.
• We see the dark body of a masked palm civet or gem-faced civet 果子貍 (guǒ zi lí) Paguma larvata crossing the road as we drive out at dusk. Its tail is more than two-thirds the length of head and body. The body varies from 51 to 76 cm in length with a tail of 51 to 63 cm. It weighs between 3.6 and 6 kg. This omnivorous nocturnal solitary predator is seen in forests and disturbed habitats.

Birds

• The Brown dipper 河烏 (hé wū) Cinclus pallasii is the only all-chocolate brown bird in the canyon. It is never away from clear, flowing streams. It flies low over the surface and dives into streams, swimming and diving to feed. It has a rich and variable series of trilling and rattling notes. We saw several individuals flying from rock to rock in the river.
• The grey-chinned minivet 灰喉山椒鳥 (huī hóu shān jiāo niǎo) Pericrocotus solaris is in the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae and is found in forests between 1,000–2,000 m, coming down lower in the cold months. The small, slender birds have long tails and an erect posture. They feed mainly on invertebrates in the tree canopy. The adult male has a dark grey head, pale grey chin, orange-yellow throat and blackish wings. The underparts, lower back and tips of the greater coverts are orange and these parts are bright yellow in the female. We saw large groups in the middle canopy along the river.
• Yellow wagtail 黃鶺鴒 (huáng jí líng) Motacilla tschutschensis breeds in the East Palearctic and migrates to south Asia and Australia. It is a slender 15–16 cm long bird, with a long, constantly wagging tail. This insectivorous bird inhabits open country near water. We notice several single species on and along the mining road.