Location: Chiayi City/Chiayi County
Distance: 63km Elevation Gain: 985m
We have stated previously that it is our desire to cover at least one popular route or loop for each city/county in Taiwan. A quick scroll through our previous posts will show the reader that we have fulfilled that objective in about a dozen counties so far. We have also, where applicable, included routes that are annual cycling events.
This time we are in Chiayi City, which might strike some as unusual given that it covers a very small area within Chiayi County where most of the ride is located. The reason for doing this is primarily because of public transport access, with a Taiwan Railways Corporation (TRC) station in the city center. Most people would associate Chiayi with the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area, which lies within the county boundaries but is 90 kilometers from the city.
In two previous posts, #006 and #039, we covered traversing mountain ascents from Chiayi train station. With this, our third post, we have created a loop ride featuring both the tourist attractions of two reservoirs and less frequented country roads.
From the train station, get onto County Rd. No. 159A heading due east for 3 kilometers until you come to a right turn on Xiaoyi Rd. (Local Rd. Shr 10). This will take you along the south side of Lantan Reservoir.
Note: Local roads in Taiwan use Chinese character prefixes. In Chiayi City, roads begin with 市 (shì, “city”), while in Chiayi County, they begin with 嘉 (Chia).
Once you pass Lantan Reservoir, it’s just a few kilometers heading due east before you come to the second reservoir, Renyitan. You need to take a right turn off the No. 10 to follow the road along the south of the reservoir and leading to the dam. Both reservoirs are recreation areas popular with locals escaping the city.
While not as spectacular as the mountain scenery on some of the reservoirs at higher elevation, this is still a great area for riding on small country roads which are heavily forested. Once you get to the north side of the reservoir, you get back onto the No. 159A, which connects to Provincial Highway No. 3. There’s a small village here where you can pick up supplies from a Hi-Life convenience store. Instead of following the No. 3, we took a series of small back roads to get to Meishan town, which is where the ’36 Bends’ road starts. This is featured in #028 of our series. This section of the ride is brutal, with really steep ascents on back roads that are easier to walk up.
From Meishan, you are now on the return leg of the ride. This is a bit tricky to follow as it involves a series of roads that may seem to be random, but we did follow a particular route that is of historic significance. In the past, to get the rider to more interesting and remote areas or roads with the least traffic, we have followed routes that are included in the ‘Taiwan Round-the-island-thousand-miles-trail’. This is an organization formed in 2006 which aims to connect a round-the-island trail with a network of bikeways, footpaths, and scenic trails in Taiwan. These tracks do not show up on Google Maps, but they can be seen highlighted in red on Mapy.cz. Choose ‘Outdoor’ from the map options to see the ‘Thousand Mile’ routes marked in red.
Here are two valuable links worth bookmarking: Thousand Mile Trail and the Facebook Page.
As is the case with most of these small back roads, which, in some cases, are not numbered, you are likely to encounter gradients that will make you weep. However, it’s some of the best riding in the country. This track loops you onto County Rd. No. 159 and back to Chiayi train station.