Easy initiation to bushwalking with nice views of the city and surrounding islands. Good spot in the Island to try to see the sunset. The easiest way to hike to High West itself are the stairs up from the intersection of Harlech Road and Lugard Road. But in that case you will be going up and down the same stairs. This adds a bit of bush walking and the option of seeing bit more of Hong Kong island.
- Beauty/fun: 5/10. Nice views, but not much adventure.
- Difficulty (check this link if new here, this is not your standard HK hiking web): 3/10 Little less than 4 kilometers starting from HKU to High West itself. The initial part is on standard hiking paths. Less than a kilometer within the bushes up to the peak. Only first meters will require using your hands, then just up slowly.
- The map
And the Garmin track.
You can start from different points. Nowadays the easiest is HKU. MTR till there. Exit A1. Walk on the University Avenue for less than 100m and you will see the path up. Concrete stairs and easy walk.
Continue walking Pok Fu Lam Reservoir direction. Till you get to the junction with the Hong Kong Trail Section 1. Up some (bit steep) stairs (The Peak via Lugard Road direction) and you are at the start of the bush walking part. Don’t take the concrete road but go up this way.
A “Road closed” sign and a path that sometimes looks this way.
Steep but not especially difficult and with nice views all the way on your back.
On the way there are quite some spots to get >180° pics. Finally once in High West itself 360°: Lamma island, Cyberport, Lantau Island, ICC…
From here you can go down back to Lugard Road, through the mentioned stairs, to continue enjoying the views of the city below and go down pass the Peak to Central. Alternatively (blue line) you can go up to Victoria Peak Garden and down same way from the Peak.
Updated map (how to download to your phone offline maps):
Including the South easy scramble option
February 12, 2021 at 2:40 pm
Thanks for your tips~ Strange when we exited mtr hku A1 we reached pok fu Lam road… can’t find university road…
February 12, 2021 at 3:22 pm
The lifts take you up to the university complex and from there you need to walk less than 100 meters South direction, some stairs down, and you are on University Drive or however is called 😅