and the rock forest to arrive at it are one of the most spectacular dry routes up Tai Mo Shan Country Park.

See full screen or the Garmin track starting and ending in the MTR stations, another day going up Wo Lei stream & up the second rock forest, Stone Boat stone forest (green line).

There are several ways to go up there. I already mentioned the connection with the Tai Yuen stream. For dry options, you could start in Tsuen Wan MTR station, or for a shorter version (green line), in Chuen Lung. In any case, you will walk up on the path heading towards Miu Ko Toi.

You don’t need to arrive up till there. Instead, when you are around here turn right into that not-so-clear path.

Find your way through the vegetation. On the map (and video below) the side path that I prefer. If you see yourself in a place like this one. You are in the right way 😀

Soon you will arrive at a clearer path with rocks, Sheung Sze Forest Trail (相思林徑)

You will cross several (may be dry) streams/creeks till you arrive at Tai Yuen stream itself. A bit more than 100m farther you will find the rocks on the left side to start scrambling on.

A video with all the previous and the first waterfall. You will need to climb it on its left. Depending on your skills, really close to it, or just heading into the vegetation further left.

In the video you can see that initially the rocks are within the vegetation, but soon it opens and you can scramble on bare rocks. With the stream barely audible quite some meters under.

Thanks to an Instagram comment, I discovered that the name of the area is exactly the same one Acacia (Sheung Sze) Rock Forest (相思石林). The ribbons moving forward would take you out of the fun, looking up towards the right side.

The hikers below followed that path.

Easier, if you are not good scrambling, but you will not see quite some of the rock formations. Like this “tetris” pyramid,

“the Lotus flower”

or others. Fun scrambling. Really good grip rocks. You need to be careful though. There are big gaps among them, some up to 5-10m deep. You can also find some thorny vegetation.

Get gloves etc ready, maybe even some pruning scissors.

Drone footage of all the boulder area and the paths above.

Just once out of the rock area, the bushwalking is a bit dense.

Soon you will find more clear paths. Anyhow you will be walking within the green (or brownish in the dry season) continuously.

The Observatory behind.

Within the rocks of Woo Yang Shan itself.

There are interesting ones up there to explore around for a little while before starting your descent.

Usual visitors around.

Further South East.

Arriving at the “Stone Day Gate” (石天門)

with the city below.

The path ahead is steep and partly sandy.

Just after this picturesque spot

There are different options to go down. On the map I have marked slightly less steep path crossing an old pine section (partly burned) connecting finally with the Yuen Yuen institute and temples around. You can take green minibuses or taxi from here. Or walk to Tai Wo Hau MTR station.

Apr 2019 update: I have added a brown line to the map. If you are in a rush or lazy, you could take a taxi up to the Tai Mo Shan lookout car park. This is the easiest, fastest option, as you remove most of the ascent, but mainly on the boulders themselves. Added also a yellow line, connecting the top of the rock forest with the aforementioned path, so you could do a loop or go down through a picturesque downhill path towards Tsuen Wan. Pictures and a video of this route (Garmin track).

May 2022 update: By chance, again, I found further rock forests around. I was jogging up to Tai Mo Shan, turned into a new path, I saw some ribbons heading into the rocky area… Interesting. And find further rocky features to be scrambling on. A few days later I took a couple of friends there. This little circular path is updated in the map above (green line).

Later at home, I realized that on the Openstreetmap layer there were a few spots marked and named. 雙三角石室 (double triangle stone room) and 石船石林 (Stone Boat Stone Forest). We went through the former up to the latter and then down the Tiny rock forest (not so small if you are ready to scramble down) that is not mapped yet.

Feb 2024: Pedro & Jacobo needed a short outing. Therefore we took the taxi up to the Tai Mo Shan lookout parking and from there

and

The Garmin track.

March 2023: We checked the Easternmost rock forest too. Video

Pictures

And the Garmin recording. On the map above marked in red the way to connect all five forests in one go. Now that I know better the area, if you are ready for a long day out, I would suggest you start at Yuen Yuen Institute, go to the red line, down Stone Boat stone forest to the double triangle chamber through green, and up again through blue the main Acacia rock forest.