Jinmianshan/Scissors Rock Mountain (金面山/剪刀石山)

With its stony peaks that you can traverse with ropes, Jinmianshan is a popular trail for people wanting to experience a rugged hiking trail that’s less dangerous and easier to climb up than many other roped rocky trails on the island. It’s also a great place to see a Taipei sunset.

From atop the rocks, you can see Neihu, downtown Taipei, and Songshan. You can also catch a bit of Tamsui to the north. With the big rocks jutting into the sky, the clouds rolling through the green mountains around you, and the sun shining its rays over the Taipei buildings below, this is an opportunity to catch a sunset with a lot of variety in the image. And this place makes for a heck of a night view.

Getting down after the sun sets requires caution and a good headlamp!

Jinmianshan is situated in Neihu, not terribly hard to get to via public transport. You can take the Brown Line or the 247 Neihu Main Line bus to Xihu Station and walk about 15 minutes to the trailhead. There’s also a number of shuttle buses like the BL20 and BL27 that stop a few minutes away at Takming University of Science and Technology.