Batongguan Trail

The Batongguan Trail is a 152 kilometer-long corridor across the imposing Central Mountain Range of Taiwan from Zhushan in Nantou to Yuli in Hualien, comprising two routes of distinct origin. The Qing dynasty era Historic Trail (八通關古道) was opened in 1875 by General Wu Guangliang under the “open the mountains, pacify the Indigenous” (開山撫番) policy in the aftermath of the Mudan Incident. This trail has since succumbed to the elements and very little of it remains today—but several relics were collectively designated a national monument in 1987. These include the Wannian Hengqu and Kaipi Honghuang inscriptions. The original trail was superseded by the Japanese colonial era Traversing Road (八通關越嶺道路), built from 1919 along an almost entirely different route in response to ongoing Indigenous resistance. This route featured 34 police garrisons and, after significant restoration efforts in recent decades, remains the trail taken by hikers today.