Emerald Valley 翡翠谷

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Emerald Valley is a popular river tracing spot near in Xiulin Township of Hualien County. It is also home to the Emerald Valley Old Trail, a trail used by Taroko Aborigines and Japanese to connect to Taiwan's central mountain range. The Dam, tunnel, and suspension bridge here are all remnants from the Japanese era.

Background:
Emerald Valley Old Trail dates back to over 200 years ago and was used by the Taroko tribe to travel deep into the Taiwan's central mountain range, along the Mugua river. During the Japanese control of Taiwan after 1895, the Japanese built a bridge, tunnel, and waterworks here and mined copper, and set up an artillery shelter, among other things. 
The area has been basically untouched since the Japanese era, and now a popular hiking trail connects the tunnels to the made made waterfall and river tracing valley beyond.

Hours:
24/7

Price:
Free

How to get there:
By car/scooter: Take provincial highway 9 southeast until you reach the Tongmen bridge and keep going. There is free parking on the side of the road. 
By bus: Take bus 1131A or 1131 from Hualien about an hour to Tongmen Village. 

Map:
Please see below:

Our Journey:

We have been to Emerald Valley once, and it was a fun and short family hike. The entire walk takes about half an hour or less, and there is amazing scenery and history to see along the way. 

View from the bridge near tongmen village, also worth a visit.

Here there is a sign that bans touching the water, swimming, driving a car, or driving a scooter. 

On the far side of the river is a grassy area where they have aborigine dances and activities, I assume. 

Here you can clearly see the broken down Japanese suspension bridge that would have started the Emerald Valley Old Trail connecting Tongmen Village to the central mountain range. 

Soon you will come to the first tunnel and it gets really dark. In the past, the Japanese drove mining trucks through here. 

View out the other side. 

Looking up river.

View down river as it started to rain. 

Someone else loves Taiwan too!

Another amazing view up stream.

First view of the waterfall.

View down stream.

Small waterfall down stream.

Main waterfall area.

There are usually tons of people here taking selfies. 

Another concrete barrier.
The really amazing scenery is further up stream. This place is an amazing river tracing spot.

Take a look at Xiaofei's video above to see what I am talking about. 

Walking back through the dark tunnel. 

Finally we made it back. 

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