Paozilun Waterfall 炮子崙瀑布

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Paozilun Waterfall is a tall waterfall in Shenkeng District of New Taipei. The hike here is super easy, and there is a metal rack you can sit on to get massaged by the falling water. It is definitely a fun trip in the mountains that will not take too much time, and is part of a longer trail system through the tea fields in Shenkeng. 

Background:
Paozilun Waterfall is about 20 meters high, and its name comes from the Paozilun River which it is a part of.
It lies on the Paozilun industrial road and can be a bit hard to find, and lies among agricultural land and tea fields.
During the Qing Dynasty, the town of Shenkeng was an important stop along the Danlan Old Trail (淡蘭古道 which means the road between Tamsui and Yilan), which was split into three paths, and Shenkeng was on the Southern Path. The Southern Path winded from Mengjia Old Street to Liuzhangli, then to Shengkeng which was a major business center at the time. From Shenkeng the road then went to Shiding, Pinglin, and then Yilan. The Southern path was the quickest way to Yilan. 
After World War 2, the train to Yilan replaced the need for a boat dock for shipping in Shenkeng, and the town slowly fell out of importance. 
National Highway 3 and National highway 5 were constructed near Shenkeng in 1993 and 2006 respectively, making Shenkeng again an important stop on the way to Yilan. 
Currently tea is still an important crop in the mountains of Shenkeng.
As for the Paozilun Trail, it is not super popular or well known and there is a good chance you will find yourself alone there on a weekend.

Hours:
24/7

Price:
Free

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: From Shenkeng Old Street, cross south across Highway 106 toward "Paozilun" and keep left on the road until you reach the point on the map below. There is no clear marker to the waterfall, so just follow the pictures below. There is plenty of parking on the side of the road. 
By Bus: Take bus F712 to Paozilun station, then walk a few hundred meters to the left up the hill until you reach the point on the map below. There is no clear marker to the waterfall, so just follow the pictures below.

Map:
Please see below:

Our Journey:

I have been to Paozilun Waterfall twice, it's right near where I live in Shenkeng, New Taipei, one of the closest waterfalls to my house. 
Frankly this blog has been sitting on the shelf for way too long, a long with many other waterfall posts that should have been posted a long time ago but have not because I have about 100 blog drafts and counting, and the number is growing at an exponential rate. 

Anyway, Paozilun Waterfall is an easy hike that takes only about 10 minutes. There is no place to swim (the water is too shallow) but there is a metal rack you can sit on and get a nice massage from the waterfall. 

Check out our drone footage of the waterfall above, one of the first drone videos we ever made.

Going up the road you will notice this drainage ditch to the right, which is not all that ugly.

Slow motion man made waterfall.

Further up the road you will come to this fork with the Paozilun Trail sign pointing to the right. Do not go right. Go left.

Keep going up the road a little bit until you reach this telephone pole number 44 on the south side of the road.

Directly left of the telephone pole is the trailhead. There is no other marker here to tell you where it is. 

It looks like someone put a lot of time into making a cement trail here by hand.

There is a little bit of someone's private farmland that you have to pass through.

Someone's water tanks are also here.

View of the Paozilun river below.

Hand made cement bridge.

The hike up takes less than 10 minutes. This is the first view of the falls that you will see.

An elderly couple enjoying the waterfall. 

There is not much of a pool underneath, but you can get a massage on the metal racks placed under the waterfall.

Another view further out.

More people enjoying the waterfall.

Someone getting a nice leg massage.

And back massage.

Another view of the falls.

Most of the people you will find here are elderly. There is also a small outhouse to the left.

​Thanks for joining us on this adventure, and stay tuned for more blogs on northern Taiwan to come. 

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