There is a saying that the view on the other side is always better. For the past 20 years, my preferred holiday destinations were always abroad, faraway places in Europe, US, and the rest of the world. The pandemic has indeed changed our lives, forced us to reflect from inside-out, and these are the 2 magnificent hidden trail I discovered while doing the reflection. Little do I know that these 2 special trails are just an hour walk away from my home .
Penis Rock
This is obviously the ladies’ favorite rock. There is no official name for this rock yet, but it is clear to everyone eyes that this is the “Penis” rock. There must be many “Penis” look alike rock in our world but as far as I know, this is the best looking “Penis” rock. Please drop me a comment if you disagree or share an image to challenge my assumption. The best thing is, this rock is reachable within an hour of hiking from my home. Click here if this trail excites you more. (Post coming up soon)
Tai Shui Hang Waterfalls (Hero Falls)
The next hidden gem is the Ma Dai Stream hike to Tai Shui Hang waterfalls (or Hero Falls) which is also reachable within an hour if you choose the easy path. We hiked the trail in winter where the flow of water is not as strong as in summer. Although the pools and falls would look better in summer there are many photogenic spots for you to spend time on. Instead of the easy path, we chose a difficult rock scrambling and climbing trail that is absolutely thrilling and fun.
Trail Map
There are many ways to enjoy Ma Dai stream as well as to reach Hero Falls. If you are short on time and bring along kids or inexperienced hikers, choose the blue color trail. The trail starts from the Tai Shui Hang MTR exit B and follow a comfortable vehicle road up to the Ma Dai Dam in 15 mins. From there it is a short 30 mins stream hike to the Hero Falls.
On the other hand, if you are restless and full of energy, choose the challenging red trail. From the starting point to Hero fall, we took around 3 hours. You may be wandering why should you take all the trouble. Why not take the easy 15 mins pave road? It is because you will miss lots of beautiful spots, pools you can dip in, waterfalls in various shapes, small canyon, and of course all the fun and thrill of climbing and scrambling around big huge rocks.
Preparation
Before we embark on the trail, there are few precautions to bear in mind. This trail does not look dangerous on the outside but many accidents has occurred on this trail before. Any slips or falls can cause injury. In fact, one of my hiker friend has torn her ACL while hiking here and had to go through lengthy operation and recovery. You can read about her story here. The key to an injury free hiking is a good hiking shoe. Climbing rocks also required good coordination and balance and most importantly, do not step on wet rocks or use them as stepping stone as much as possible. Wet rocks can be extra slippery especially when covered in tiny algae plants.
The full loop of our route up the Tai Shui Hang Waterfall hike via Ma Dai Stream is only suitable for strong-intermediate hikers as the stream rock climb is quite strenuous. The following is some of the trail info:
- Duration : 3 hours following red route to Hero Falls and 45 mins from Hero Falls using the blue route
- Round Trio Distance : 4 km
- Difficulty : Medium
Starting Point
The starting point is at Tai Shui Hang MTR station exit B. At the exit, turn right to follow Hang Tat road towards Tai Shung Shu Hang Village or Chevalier Garden. In 5 to 10 mins you will see a public car park area and this is where you will turn left heading into Tai Shui Village. Follow “Tai Shui Hand North Street” for 5 mins and you will see the Ma Dai Stream. You need to go around the “Hong Kong Forest Adventure Club” on your left to reach the starting point of the hike.
The Scrambling Begins
Once you are on the starting point, all you need to do is to follow the stream. The first 30 mins of hike is manageable with smaller rocks and little streams to cross. Just be mindful of your footing, find a path on rocks that won’t get your feet wet. If you prefer to watch a video to have an of the difficulty involved, check out the video below.
Ma Dai Stream Hike Video
There are few pools to dip in and for kids to play around within 15 mins from the starting point. If you bring along small kids then this short trip will be enough. We hiked this trail in winter and as you could see from the video there is no much water pools and falls around. The scenery would be more amazing in summer I would say.
2 tough ladies, Rebecca and Yasuko. In fact, this is Yasuko first stream hike. She is very agile and has good balance. Not much of a problem for her.
First bigger pools we encountered after 30 mins of scrambling. Beautiful colors and scenery here. Lots of little fishes too in the water.
After roughly an hour into the hike we found a section that looks like small gorge with beautiful color.
We passed through a few more pools before we reached the Ma Dai dam. We took around 2.5 hours to reach the dam. If you take the easy blue route, you could reach this junction 20 mins and this is the junction where both trail converge. To cross the dam, head towards the right where there’s a flight of stairs. Don’t follow it all the way up but cut across it to get down to the other side.
After the dam, the trail becomes more difficult as the rocks are getting bigger. To add to the challenge, there is no clear path to follow on most section. You just need to rely on your observation and judgement on which trail to use. At some sections, you may be able find some ropes hanging around to help with the accent. If you find it difficult to cross certain section, a good trick is to look around for ropes.
After 2.5 hours hiking from the starting point or 20 minutes from the dam, you will reach the most scenic part of the the hike. The water falling from the rocks forms a lovely veil of waters covering the inner rocks. The colors of the rock is also quite mesmerizing with shades of orange, brown, yellow and green. On top of of it, there is a huge boulder and a tree smack right in the middle. Perhaps this is what is called natural beauty. We didn’t spend a lot of time here as we are very focus at reaching our final destination, the Hero Falls.
The final climb to the hero falls is through a rock jungle trail on the right hand side. It is a short but steep climb. Once you arrived at the bottom of the falls, you could see all the way to the high rise building from Chevalier Garden.
Hero Falls
This stunning waterfall is called Tai Shui Hang Falls or Hero Falls. The magnificent cliff is about 10 meter high and there is deep water pool beneath the waterfall. This a perfect combination for cliff jumping. In fact, there use to be a rope hanging on the cliff, providing assistance to those brave enough to climb the cliff. But there have been climbing accidents at this spot, so maybe that is why the rope has been removed. To be honest, I would rather hang and swim around rather taking the risk falling from the cliff. And it is great spot for picture taking!
Well, this was a fun trip for us. It is still unbelievable that we have so many natural beauties around us that are still left unnoticed. If you have time and in Shatin area, why not hike the Ma Dai Stream? I guarantee you will enjoy it.
Jessy Lee
Kevin
Nicholas Lee
2 Responses
Looks like a great day!
It is.. Thanks Mitch for appreciating our post