Hikes - Wilson Trail

Hikes - Wilson Trail

Posted: Sep 16, 2021 | Updated: May 11, 2022

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The Highlights

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Posted: May 20, 2013 | Updated: Aug 28, 2023

Wilson Trail 10

Stage 10: Pat Sin Leng to Nam Chung (6.8km)

Distance Posts: W125 - W137

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1) Wilson Trail 10 - Walking back to the trail
2) Wilson Trail 10 - Rejoining the Trail
3) Wilson Trail 10 - Continue to Luk Keng
4) Wilson Trail 10 - Missed the turning for W135
5) Off the Wilson Trail! Luk Keng Village
5) Luk Keng Village Derelict
7) Last House in Luk Keng Village
8) Wilson Trail 10 - The End

Posted: May 19, 2013 | Updated: Sep 2, 2023

Wilson Trail 9

Stage 9: Cloudy Hill to Pat Sin Leng (10.6km)

Distance Posts: W105 - W125

Back to Hok Tau Wai to join the trail at the same point that it was joined at on the last stage. This is at a point next to W112 although the stage starts at Cloudy Hill at point W105. Walking this extra distance last time out is beneficial this time out as this time as the hike today will start with the main course of the Pat Sin Leng mountain range - no bad thing as this stage is regarded as one of the harder stages of the trail.

Pat Sin Leng means "Ridge of the Eight Immortals", and is sometimes translated as "Fairies". The eight peaks along the mountain range are each named after a different Immortal.

1) Wilson Trail 9 - Hok Tau Reservoir Walk
2) Wilson Trail 9 - W113 To Pat Sin Leng
3) Wilson Trail 9 - W114 to W115
4) Wilson Trail 9 - On Pat Sin Leng
5) Wilson Trail 9 - W118 To Plover Cove Reservoir
5) Wilson Trail 9 - On Pat Sin Leng
7) Wilson Trail 9 - Nearly at Shun Yeung Fung
8) Wilson Trail 9 - Shun Yeung Fung
9) Wilson Trail 9 - Sheung Tsz Fung
10) Wilson Trail 9 - Hsien Ku Fung

Posted: May 17, 2013 | Updated: Sep 2, 2023

Wilson Trail 8

Stage 8: Yuen Tun Ha to Cloudy Hill (9.0km)

Distance Posts: W88 - W105

This stage of the route was done in reverse again, with the same logic being to start in the more remote area and to end in a built up area with easy access to transport. It involved a MTR and a mini bus to Hok Tau Wai, followed by a walk to join the trail near W112 on stage 9 at the bridge crossing the river to the Hok Tau Reservoir. From here the route (in reverse) is a steady climb to the high point of Cloudy Hill at W105.

This is actually the demarcation between stage 8 and stage 9 so seven distance posts were walked in order to walk stage 8. For the next stage I'll start in Hok Tau Wai again and join stage 9 at 112.

1) Wilson Trail 8 - Starting on 9
2) Wilson Trail 8 - Cloudy Hill to Tai Po
3) Wilson Trail 8 - Cloudy Hill Rest
4) Wilson Trail 8 - Paragliding Point
5) Wilson Trail 8 - Scenic Ridgeline near W104

Posted: May 12, 2013 | Updated: Sep 1, 2023

Wilson Trail 7

Stage 7: Shing Mun Reservoir to Yuen Tun Ha (10.2km)

Distance Posts: W69 - W88

Yet another stage done in reverse. The last thing you want at the end of a hike is a long wait for a bus in a remote rural area. We got a bus and showed the taxi a map of where we needed to get to. After a few refusals we found a receptive driver and off we went knowing that at the end we would be in a familiar place and where we know that buses back to an MTR, any MTR station, are frequent and easy to find.

The drop off point was truly rural and such a contrast to what people think Hong Kong is like. This is the beauty of Hong Kong; you can be in a modern city with all the trappings and convenience that come with is, but very quickly be a remote location, and be thinking, 'just what do the people who out here do?' Hong Kong is about its financial sector and real estate. Isn't it?

This is a pretty route and although you don't get the views, PM2.5 haze and low cloud permitting, its an easy walk which means you can spend more time looking around while you walk rather than looking at the terrain up or down. Much of this route takes you on an often sheltered route around the reservoir with picturesque stream crossings and being close up with nature on the country trails.

1) Wilson Trail 7 - W87 to W88
2) Wilson Trail 7 - Near W77
3) Shing Mun Reservoir from W77
4) The Dam At The Shing Mun Reservoir

Posted: May 5, 2013 | Updated: Aug 28, 2023

Wilson Trail 6

Stage 6: Tai Po Road to Shing Mun Reservoir (5.3km)

Distance Posts: W60 - W69

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Posted: May 1, 2013 | Updated: Sep 1, 2023

Wilson Trail 5

Stage 5: Sha Tin Au to Tai Po Road (7.4km)

Distance Posts: W46 - W60

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1) Wilson Trail 5 - Stage 5 and 6 Junction
2) Wilson Trail 5 - Near W60
3) Hin Tin from Wilson Trail 5
4) Lion Rock from the Wilson Trail near W56
5) Amah Rock from near W55
6) Amah Rock
7) Wilson Trail 5 - Military Marker Post
8) Junction of Wilson Trail 4 and 5

Posted: May 1, 2013 | Updated: Sep 1, 2023

Wilson Trail 4

Stage 4: Tseng Lan Shue to Sha Tin Au (8.0km)

Distance Posts: W31 - W46

Continuing from stage 5, ...

1) Wilson Trail 4 - Distance Post W40

Posted: Apr 20, 2013 | Updated: Aug 31, 2023

Wilson Trail 3

Stage 3: Devil's Peak to Tseng Lan Shue (9.3km)

Distance Posts: W19 - W31

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Bizarre Statues at W26

What are these statues about? Why are they here? I've done some digging and 'The Standard - China's Business Newspaper' in 2009 had an article about this.

Descending to Ma Yau Tong, we came across sprightly 84-year-old Lee Chun-bor, keeper of what appeared to be the most irreverent Buddhist shrine in Hong Kong, its entrance guarded by Japanese soldiers.

Talking to the jovial old-timer was the highlight of what would become a very frustrating day.

He explained that he had been coming to this hillside for 23 years and had planted fruit trees and even used his small government pension to buy cement to build a pathway which is now crossed by the Wilson Trail.

Eight years ago, while removing undergrowth, he came across an abandoned Buddhist shrine under a boulder, which he restored, and then set about sculpting his brightly painted guard of honour on the pathway he constructed outside the entrance.

This weird assortment includes the Japanese soldiers, rifles at the ready, a sumo wrestler, Sikh bank guards, a dog, a pop singer, a couple dancing, a drug addict smoking from a water pipe, a belly dancer, and even a pregnant woman.

" I make them from cement and soil, and then paint them," said Mr Lee. " It's good fun. I create anything that comes into my mind. People love it. See that one over there with the blue and white striped shirt and the white hair? Well that was supposed to be Sun Yat-sen, but it didn't work out, so I made him into a gweilo instead."

He also made a picnic site at the side of the track, but dismantled it because people were leaving too much rubbish. I left wondering if walkers on this new trail would do the same.

1) Wilson Trail 3 - Climb to Devils Peak
2) Devils Peak Redoubt - Approx W21
3) Inside Devils Peak Redoubt
4) Devils Peak Redoubt with Hong Kong Island in Cloud
5) Devils Peak Redoubt Windowed Walls
6) Wilson Trail 3 - W26 Strange Figures
7) Wilson Trail Stage 3 - Statues
8) Wilson Trail Stage 3 - Statues
9) End of the statue trail
10) Wilson Trail Stage 3 - Statues
11) Wilson Trail 3 - Statues

Posted: Apr 7, 2013 | Updated: Aug 30, 2023

Wilson Trail 2

Stage 2: Wong Nai Chung Gap to Quarry Bay (6.6km)

Distance Posts: W8 - W18

Like with stage 1, this stage was also walked in reverse. The reason? Because this area was very significant in World War 2 during the bitter fighting for Hong Kong. Fighting over Wong Nai Chong Gap sustained the largest casualties for the Empire of Japan and British Empire forces The Japanese came ashore at three points on the night of the 18th December 1941; at North Point, Aldrich Bay and Taikoo.

At the time, Taikoo was a dock yard and sugar factory occupying the current Taikoo Shing residential area and Tai Koo MTR. Following a more direct route without all the roads of today, it would have been probably less than a kilometre to get to where stage 2 begins. This is in fact where the Japanese headed to in order to to the high ground of Jardine's Lookout and other peaks in the middle of the eastern half of Hong Kong island. Doing this walk with a small backpack and sports wear was tiring enough. I tried to imagine what could only have been a truly draining experience being equipped in combat kit, and hurrying along the trails and fighting for the peaks.

Soon after entering the trail at W18, this is part of the Quarry Bay Tree Walk, the path leads to the unique Wartime Stoves, built to sustain the populace if Hong Kong came under siege. As it turned out, Hong Kong fell to the Japanese in only 18 days so these impressive monuments were never used. The path takes you past W17 under tree cover before spitting you out on Mount Parker Road and then shortly onto a flat but constant ascent. By about W15 the track gets rougher and more exposed as the route climbs Siu Ma Shan for an eventual rendezvous with the Hong Kong Trail (H57/W13). 

Take care on this hike as there are many crisscrossing paths on the lower slopes and the trail isn't always very well marked.

The serious climb begins

As you continue your ascent you will no doubt take a pause to on the relentless steps. Even if you aren't tiring, it's not a mission, so take time to turn around and be rewarded with some tremendous views - all subject to the Hong Kong PM2.5 haze that often hangs in the air.

After reaching Siu Ma Shan Peak, the path has a short descent to the junction of the Hong Kong / Wilson Trails. Continuing the Wilson trail overlaps the Hong Kong trail and after two more distance posts brings the walker to Jardine's Lookout, giving expansive views of Victoria Harbour to the north, and the Tai Tam reservoirs, Park View (the approximate junction between stage 1 and stage 2, and Stanley in the far off distance.

Jardine's Lookout was used by the firm Jardine Matheson to spot mailing vessels from India and London. Once spotted, a ship would set out to the mailing ship to collect the mail. On one occasion, getting information before anybody else allowed the firm to withdraw its money from a bank that had gone bust before the news became widely known and withdrawals were stopped.

Battle for Jardine's Lookout

This was a key point for the Japanese as they looked to conquer the island and this area leading down to the Wong Nai Chung Gap was heavily contested. At this location can be found a pillbox or an observation point. It is smashed in from the battle. Inn his account of the battle, Tom Marsh who was a Canadian soldier during the battle described the structure as a pillbox and was in it when it was hit.

From Jardine's Lookout it is all downhill. Along the way is commemoration to the Winnipeg Grenadiers, and Sergeant Major John Osborn who saved a number of his comrades by throwing himself onto a Japanese Grenade. This is not the location that it happened, but it was on this mountain that the battle took place. For this selfless action, John Osborn received the highest honour to a soldier of the British Empire forces, the Victoria Cross.

The End of the Stage

At this point you may come across fresh faced hikers about to embark on their hike in the 'proper' direction. For us, we decided to walk to just below the Wong Nai Chung Gap road before catching a bus back to Central from outside West Brigade HQ, a significant point for those on the World War 2 trail. More about that another time.

 

1) Wilson Trail 2 - Wartime Stoves
2) Close Up of the Wartime Stoves
3) Kwun Yam the Goddess of Mercy
4) Pillbox at Jardines Lookout
5) Battle damaged Jardine's Lookout Pillbox
6) Between W10 and W9

Posted: Mar 23, 2013 | Updated: Aug 30, 2023

Wilson Trail 1

Stage 1: Stanley to Wong Nai Chung Gap (4.8km)

Distance Posts: W1 - W8

The start of this trail begins just outside of Stanley, It doesn't matter which way you start, this is going to be a tough walk as both sides start with an immediate climb with hundreds of steps ahead of you, hence its a favourite for fitness enthusiasts. If you start at the end, which is Park View near to Wong Nai Chung Reservoir Park, you will at least end up in Stanley which is a great endpoint for food and drink. With this in mind, we started at the end.

1) Wilson Trail 1 - Near the top of Violet Hill
2) Violet Hill to ParkView
3) Violet Hill to Tai Tam Reservoir
4) Violet Hill to Repulse Bay
5) The Big Southern Twin
6) Resting at The Viewing Platform
7) The Twins Viewing Platform
8) Stanley Peninsula

Travel Hong Kong

Central Police Station & Gaol

Central Police Station & Gaol

Central Police Station & Gaol

Correctional Services Museum

Correctional Services Museum

Correctional Services Museum

Devil's Peak

Devil's Peak

Devil's Peak

Hikes - Discovery Bay to Mui Wo

Hikes - Discovery Bay to Mui Wo

Hikes - Discovery Bay to Mui Wo

Hikes - Hong Kong Trail

Hikes - Hong Kong Trail

Hikes - Hong Kong Trail

Hikes - Lantau Trail

Hikes - Lantau Trail

Hikes - Lantau Trail

Hikes - Maclehose Trail

Hikes - Maclehose Trail

Hikes - Maclehose Trail

Hikes - Wilson Trail

Hikes - Wilson Trail

Hikes - Wilson Trail

Iconic Hong Kong

Iconic Hong Kong

Iconic Hong Kong

Lamma Island

Lamma Island

Lamma Island

Lyemun Fort

Lyemun Fort

Lyemun Fort

Mount Davis Battery

Mount Davis Battery

Mount Davis Battery

Ngong Ping

Ngong Ping

Ngong Ping

Pinewood Battery

Pinewood Battery

Pinewood Battery

Police Museum

Police Museum

Police Museum

Sai Wan Battery

Sai Wan Battery

Sai Wan Battery

Sai Wan Military Cemetery

Sai Wan Military Cemetery

Sai Wan Military Cemetery

Sheung Wan

Sheung Wan

Sheung Wan

Shing Mun Redoubt

Shing Mun Redoubt

Shing Mun Redoubt

Stanley

Stanley

Stanley

Tai O

Tai O

Tai O

Wong Nai Chung Gap

Wong Nai Chung Gap

Wong Nai Chung Gap

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