Tai Mo Shan 957 meters/ 3,139′ and Wo Tong Kong 654 meters/ 2,145′
Total Time: 2:00
Distance: 9.2 km/ 5.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 580 meters/ 1900′
Companions: Mark Sugi
Trailhead: Tai Mo Shan Country Park, full services
Tai Mo Shan is the highest mountain in Hong Kong. Located fairly centrally in the city, the paved summit road sees a good number of hikers and bikers, although less traffic than the more popular and ‘rugged’ Lantau Peak or Dragon’s Back hikes. My layover in Hong Kong was a bit shorter than on the way in when I was able to bag Lantau, and an excuse to summit Tai Mo Shan seemed like a good way to explore a new part of the city. My red eye from Kathmandu landed at 6 AM, and after taking the Airport Express Line to Kowloon Station, I met my friend Mark at his hotel. After a fantastic breakfast we caught an Uber to Tai Mo Shan Country Park, about a 20 minute ride from Kowloon. You can actually take the road almost completely up the mountain, but we asked our driver to drop us off at the visitor center and we started up the road.
I had talked Mark into the hike after I sent him an article about how it was one of the best places in Hong Kong for photos. But thick clouds hung low, and we were only offered occasional glimpses of the city to the north. Not long after starting out we passed an old abandoned building and went inside to investigate. There were supposedly bunkers and old gun installations from WWII scattered around the mountain, although most were scattered off the road. This building looked like it was potentially WWII era, but all I could find online after the hike was that it was ‘probably British’ based on the wiring and sockets inside.
We continued up the road past a car checkpoint, the road leaving the trees for high grass and bushes subject to the continual high winds and fog. The fog actually started to lift a bit, a between the misty haze and coastal scruff, the hike began to feel a bit like the Marin headlands. The Tsing Ma Bridge below even looked a bit like the Golden Gate!
Above the checkpoint, the road began to switchback more aggressively, and we cut a few of them up use trails in search of more ruins. The huge weather station at the summit was now directly overhead, looking like a giant soccer ball teed up at the summit. Barbed wire fencing surrounded the entire complex at the top, but we found the gate wide open. It was tempting to stroll in, but there was a guard station just beyond the fence with cameras everywhere. Not mention, there was a huge sign saying no pictures, and I didn’t want to risk missing my flight being detained in a Hong Kong jail.
We headed back down the road towards the visitor center. Past the checkpoint and ruins, we made one more side trip up to the summit of Wo Tong Kong, a small sub peak with large boulders at the summit, offering great views south towards Tsing Ma and mainland China in the hazy distance to the northwest.
It was only about 15 minutes to get back to the visitor center from there, and we tried to call for an Uber. Unfortunately, it seemed as if no drivers were willing to come up to the park to get us, and we ultimately hitch hiked down with a friendly mountain biker. After exploring Monk Kok for a bit, we headed back to Kowloon and I caught the Airport Express for my flight back home.
What is the red blue yellow thing on the floor in the WWII building?
I’m not sure, I had a hard time finding anything about the building itself.