Good initiation stream hike. Gentle slope, tons of easy exits upwards, incremental difficulty, pristine water, some nice small waterfalls.

  • Beauty/fun: 6/10 The falls are mostly small but with nice clean water. Beautiful boulders and forest around.
  • Difficulty (check this link if new here, this is not your standard HK hiking web): 4/10 Uphill it would be a mere 2/10, but you need to easy bush walk to connect with the second stream which is slightly more difficult and downhill. Tons of early exits possible in both streams. In the first one (老虎坑 Lo Fu Stream) into a major hiking path, in the second (丹桂坑 Tan Kwai Stream) into a bit less hiked ones, but with ribbons anyhow (July 2018).
  • Map

See full screen and Garmin track.

We tend to start this route from Siu Hong MTR Station. Exit F, cross the bridge and start walking on the street East direction. You will be within standard Hong Kong skyscrapers initially, fenced vegetable gardens afterwards.

A bit more of concrete and you will arrive at the Lam Tei irrigation reservoir.

Cross the dam into the Western shore. You could get here through an alternative path (purple line on the map) on the right side of the streamlet coming down from the reservoir. Interesting bamboos and dirt path, but starting too close to private property and not very friendly dogs… In any case, both will take you to a civilized family walk.

Quite popular route for elderly and families living around. Follow the pipeline and as soon as you see the stream close enough just go down and start the fun. Several pictures and videos.

There is only one “big” waterfall that you would need to scramble on its left, or find a side path hundred meters beforehand. In any case, every few hundred meters the “civilized” path will be steps apart, even crossing the stream couple of times. So once the slope and water flow decreases get into the path and find the “Road closed” sign which, as usual, marks the path to follow.

It can get bit bushy, but it is the fastest way to connect with the second stream down. There are several forks but the paths to choose are quite obvious, if in doubt just follow the GPS. You will cross several tiny creeks that you could follow. But they might be difficult to navigate due to vegetation. In our case, we continued for a while on the dirt paths till we were able to get to bit more open stream. More pics and video.

There are side paths with ribbons that would allow you somehow to hike without getting your shoes wet. But we were not there for that, but to enjoy the coolness of the water in a hot summer day. Continue down and you will find sections with picturesque bigger boulders and waterfalls. The highest one is perfectly located in almost the lowest section of the stream. You can enjoy its pool, dry yourself and walk the side path that will take you to the dam. If you continue on the stream, you will just walk for some hundred meters more before you need to exit anyhow.

From the dam usually we have taken the concrete road down next to the quarry (sometimes running cause late), but if you have some time it might be better to continue next to the water North direction, marked green on the map. It is a relatively easy dirt path down. You could even try to reconnect with the stream again.

Pics April 2019

This time we found some additional fun. Next to the biggest boulders you can get into a little tunnel with a waterfall inside, marked on the map.

Upstream doable even with kids. August 2019.


July 2021: We hiked Lo Fu stream down and then check a small tributary on the West side (added, light blue, on the map). The entrance is here, next to the “Beware of Flash Floods” sign.

The flow is significantly smaller there though. It has some nice waterfalls, after heavy rain days. Difficulty 6/10. Some pics, 5th onward the new tributary. A bit bushy atop, but connecting with an easy hiking path out.


You can see all the route we did starting from Kau Keng West stream.

Everything you should know before stream hiking.