River Tracing by Red Bridge (Jiajiuliao 加九寮), Wulai
Just above the second pool in 2018
(Last traced: fall 2022 . Some of the pics in this post are recent. Some are from as far back as 2015)
The Red River Stream, also known as Jiajiuliao, is a great place for river tracing, especially if you are a beginner. I seem to visit about once every two years, with the last visit occurring in 2022. It is an easy trace and there’s a fun little waterslide at one of the pools.
Upper river in 2022
The view from Red Bridge in 2015. The tributary is entering the main river on the left.
Ferns and friends in 2022
Getting There
This trace is pretty easy to find and get to now. There is even a google maps link for it (just type Jiajiuliao). The Taipei-Wulai bus stops at a stop called Chenggong. From here it’s a short walk on a lane downhill to the red bridge. After this trace this lane seems to lengthen by about 300%, so if you can drive a scooter here it’s the much better option!
Cross the red bridge and continue until you come to a concrete bridge over a small river. Head up some stairs on the left. You can start the trace from here but it’s just a jumble of rocks and then a weir that can be annoying to climb. Taking the stairs you’ll come to a flat trail. Follow this upriver for about a kilometer and enter the river at the spot where there used to be a dam. The main trail will start to climb here so if you find yourself climbing the hills you’ve gone too far!
Enter here: This spot is constantly changing. Sometimes there’s a larger waterfall here. This was taken shortly after a typhoon
In 2015 Typhoon Soudelor hit the Wulai valley hard. I had just traced the river for the first time a month before. When I came back it was almost unrecognizable. Writing in 2022, after having no big typhoons for a few years, it’s easy to forget how powerful they can be! I’ve left in a few old pics. Most of the river has recovered well now and it is quite pretty again. Visiting in 2016 and 17 it looked a bit destroyed in parts.
2017: The river became much wider and more exposed after the typhoon. Here you can see the steep banks left by the flood
There used to be two main swimming holes on the river but one was lost to the typhoon. The other still remains and is quite deep. There’s a great view of the surrounding mountains from it. It also has a rock cut waterslide heading into it. There once was another slide but the typhoon left that high and dry.
The river has only gotten more popular and on weekends it’s very busy, with many river tracing tour groups being led through it. If you can’t avoid the weekend crowds it’s not a huge problem. The groups are very slow and easily passed and you will still have stretches of the river to yourself. They don’t seem to go above the main pool and this spot will likely be crowded the whole day.
2017: This is the main swimming hole. There had been quite a lot of rain before this visit so it looks a quite rough.
Yours truly sliding down the channel to the main pool in 2022. You can see this was a much calmer day
The second hole was further upstream (maybe a 15-20 minute walk) and was backed by a wide waterfall, with another higher fall behind it. This was a really beautiful spot and one of the best places I'd found on New Taipei's rivers. Sadly it's totally gone.
2015 and 2017. This is the same spot given the distance from the higher fall and some of the trees and rocks are the same.
Just past the location of the destroyed swimming hole is the higher fall. I’ve only ever gone as far as this. It’s either been impassable due to the water level, or the company I was with was inexperienced, or we noticed a storm bearing down on us! One day I’ll make it past it though I’ve heard there’s nothing much up there.
2015: The higher fall above the upper swimming hole
In 2017 the fall is still strong but the greenery next to it had collapsed in a massive landslide
By 2022 the waterfall had changed again and now runs in a channel along the old waterfall face! This is probably much easier to climb now
Another before and after. 2015 and 2017 from roughly the same spot.
The practice of finding your way through the river and jumping into clear pools is a really fun way to spend the day. With no ropes or tricky cliffs this is a really good first river trace!
2017 revealed an Easter Island style rock face and this hardy tree
2018 and a friend brought bubbles for some reason
The path
There used to be a path that went from the main swimming hole back to the main path. I haven’t tried this path since 2015 (when it saved us from being caught in a storm). I’m not entirely sure it’s there anymore as it was a narrow thread of a trail anyway that only just hugged the mountainside. Every subsequent visit I’ve traced in and out.
The main path along the river between the road and where you enter the river in about 2017. This has been repaired and the river looks prettier now in 2022
Snakes
Like most rivers in Taiwan this river has snakes. Most are big-eyed ratsnakes, which are harmless, but large and fast. They hide along the riverbank until you're pretty much on top of them before exploding out of a hole and escaping. I had a small one go through my legs, which was a tense experience. I've also been very close to a couple of two meter plus specimens. There are visits where I didn’t see a single snake though and you’re very unlikely to see anything dangerous.
The reason the snakes come out
A dead kukri snake near the entrance of the Wulai - Sanxia path. Sadly an endangered species.
The gray thing in the centre of this terrible picture is one of the fastest snakes in Asia. It was lounging on a tree branch and stayed while I fumbled with two bags, and got my camera ready. Sadly it fled just as I was taking the picture
Storms and Equipment
After the typhoon storms became less of a problem. The river is much wider now and it takes a lot more rain to raise the water level. That said you should still check the forecast and try and go as early in the morning as possible. Most storms won’t arrive until about 2pm.
The only equipment I go with are river shoes (available from a hiking store on Nanchang Rd near Guting, just south of the Heping intersection) and shorts. The river shoes are like wetsuit boots with thick soles of some kind of coarse foam. The Taiwanese tour groups are covered in wetsuits, lifejackets and helmets, but if you are a good swimmer this shouldn't be necessary. There are no spots along here where you might get trapped in a waterfall plunge area. A helmet is quite a good idea though, and vital if you go alone (which generally you shouldn’t do).
Enjoy and check out other rivers and waterfalls I've put on the Hidden Taiwan Map. The adventures that make up these entries are often posted as Instagram stories at tomrookart first. So give that a follow too if you like as it can sometimes be a year or more before stuff turns up here! Please also check out my work which I display here
A storm arrives on a swimming day (no river tracing)
Outrunning a thunderstorm in 2022. Fortunately it missed us by about a kilometer
Beautiful sunset after a river day