The most breathtaking sites comes from the things that keep you breathless.

“While Hong Kong is known for its high rise buildings and heritage attraction, it’s a good thing to note that they have maintained a huge forest reserve.  Visiting the Dragon’s back gives you a view of Shek O and leads you to a trail headed to the Big Wave Bay.”

Dragons Back

The Map of the Trail from Enjoy Hiking App.

When you’re done exploring the tourist attractions in Hong Kong, why not give exploring the trails a chance.  Dragon Back is one interesting location to visit, which has been rated as one best hiking route in Asia. I also discovered that they have an enjoy hiking app on iPhone, which gives you all the description about their trails and how to get there.

Getting There

• Take MTR to Shau Kei Wan (Blue Line)
• Take Exit A3 to the bus terminal station
• Take Bus 9 to To Tei Wan in Shek O Road.

The Map and the Elevation

Map and Elevation powered by Suunto Movescount

The trail starts To Tei Wan bus stop. It goes on a sharp ascent of 150 meters elevation gain in the first 2 kilometers going to Shek O Peak. The trail then descents to Tai Long Wan Trail over the next 500 meters. It then shifts to forest trails and paved roads for the next 5 kilometers heading to Big Wave Bay with a drop of about 200 meters.

Trekking the Dragon’s Back

The Trail Starts at To Tei Wan in Shek O Road

One of the more popular trails in Hong Kong is the Hong Kong Trail, which starts at Victoria Peak and ends in Big Wave Bay, equivalent to 50 Kilometers.  The good part about their trail is that they divided it into 8 different segments so you can take it one segment at a time.  I opted for the Dragon’s Back trail, which is about 7.5 kilometers heading to the Big Wave Bay.

Stairs

The trail starts immediately with a climb. The trail is a bit structured with the paths being structured into dirt and rocky steps that’s easy to follow. It won’t take long until you get to appreciate the view as you have windows to see the mix of the forested islands and the high rise establishments in the area.

Despite being urbanized, Hong Kong maintains a large percentage of their area still forested.

It’s an irony that largely green landscape can co-exist with the numerous high rise buildings surrounding Hong Kong. They have markets every 500 meters of the trail.  I started before 85 and I have to reach 100 for the end of the trail.  There was a storm the day before I trekked the Dragon’s Back so it was really slippery at some point.

Dragon’s Back

There are signs to guide you on the trail.

It’s a short but lung busting hike to the top.  After a kilometer, you get to see the Dragon’s back at Shek O Peak.  Take a look at the photo below and it does resemble the back of a Dragon.  You get a short ridge path from Shek O Peak and Wan Cham Shan where they have a view deck where you get a panoramic view from the top.  It’s a bit bare at this stretch so you have to bear the hot day here.  The view will make up for it though.

Sitting on the Dragon’s Back

The lookout gives you an almost 360 degrees Panoramic View from east to west taking in Shek O, Shek O Peak, Tai Tam Harbour. Stanley, Redhill, Peninsula, Mount Parker, Wan Cham Shan and Mount Conllison.

Shek O Peat at 284 meters

The climb can be intimidating at first but it’s not a long one so you can really just struggle a bit but it’s definitely a newbie friendly trail.  They really did a great job in marking and forming their trails here so it would be easy to trek and not get lost.

Nearing the summit and the view is just magnificent.

I got to meet an elderly couple who helped me identify the different sites from the exclusive golf course to the popular Big Wave Bay.  It was a welcome breather for me as it’s amazing that even at their age, they still get to enjoy and brave the trails.

Descending the Dragon’s Back

What goes up must go down.

After 2 kilometers of trekking, it was time to go for a sharp drop in the next 500 meters. The road down ward had slippery dirt trails with uneven steps and stony tracks. There’s an access road to Shek O Road if you want to take the bus back or go on the Tai Long Wan part of the trail. I went with the Tai Long Wan part as my goal is to get to see the Big Wave Bay.

What followed was 3 kilometers worth of Forest Trail

The trail shifts to a damp forested trails.  From a hot trek on the ridge part, it was not cool and shaded on the forested trails.  This is a 3 kilometer stretch of flats terrains that also had huge rocks and flowing streams along the stretch.

The flowing streams from the top of the mountain had clear waters.

The streams of water was really clear and fit for drinking. This was the part where I freshened up with a splash of water to my head.  It’s also nice to see natural water source that gives you a chance to hydrate naturally.  The trail shifts to the Mount Collinson area, which was the start of the descent and had paved surface.  I was easier to move on this stretch.

Heading to the Big Wave Bay

The view from Mt. Collinson stretch.

While you get to appreciate the panoramic view from the top, you get to appreciate the mountain-view from this stretch.  While it was easy traversing on paved roads, there was a part where there were dogs barking at me.  I wanted to take the road back but luckily the owner restrained the dogs and I was able to move on.

I was back on the trail and ready to wrap things up.

After an encounter with the dogs, I was back on damp forested trails. This would be about another kilometer worth of dirt tracks, rocky surfaces, streams and trees. The difference was that this was a steep descent and since it was wet from the rain the day before, there were some slippery stretches.  After hitting the last marker of the trail, I was at Big Wave Bay.

Big Wave Bay

This was my finish line – Bog Wave Bay

You get to pass some houses, lodging and restaurants before seeing the beachfront.  It had fine white sands that’s perfect for beach lovers and strong waves that’s a haven for surfers. There were also some rock formations on the side for you to appreciate.

It took me 2:30 minutes to navigate the trail at an easy pace

It was the end of my trail adventure and my first out of the country trek.  I went back to the bus stop and heading back to the MTR to wrap things up.  I was proud of not only doing a 7.5 kilometer trek but also not getting lost in the process.

And here’s another look of Dragon’s Back