Taroko Gorge from Hualien: what is open and how to go without a car

Taroko Gorge, one of the best-known sights in Taiwan, is open, but not all of it. The Hualien travel guide and the Taroko National Park page give the background, and this page is the how-to: what you can see today, how to get there from Hualien without a car, and how to plan a day around the closures. The state of the park changes, so treat this as a guide to reading the park's own notices, which you should check the day before you go.

On 4 October 2026 the park's scenic spot list was updated that day and marked a number of places as temporarily closed because of earthquake damage. In the Taroko recreation area, the Changchun (Eternal Spring) Shrine, Ning'an Bridge and Sanzhan Valley are marked closed. In the Buluowan area, Zhuilu Cliffs, Liufang Bridge, Buluowan, the Yanzikou (Swallow Grotto) trail, Jinheng Park, the Tunnel of Nine Turns and the Buluowan Suspension Bridge are marked closed. In the Tianxiang area, Heliu, Wenshan Park and Huoran Pavilion are marked closed. The list does not mark the Taroko Visitor Center, Qingshui Cliff, Dali and Datong, Taroko Terrace, Cimu Bridge, Lushui, Tianxiang or Xibao as closed.

Two more facts shape any plan. The park's FAQ says the Shakadang Trail remains closed after the 3 April 2024 earthquake and asks visitors not to enter it from the Dali or Datong villages. It also says bus service between the visitor center and Tianxiang remains suspended.

The practical result is that the open, easy part of the park is the visitor center area, the Taroko Terrace and the Dekalun Trail, and the deeper gorge is reachable only by car or taxi, within timed traffic windows. Read the park's FAQ and its roads and trails page for the current position.

The simplest plan uses public transport and fits a half day. The park's FAQ lists a half-day bus trip from Hualien through Qixingtan to Xincheng Train Station, then the Taroko Visitor Center, Xincheng Old Street and back the same way. Two buses do the work. Bus 310, a Taiwan Tourist Shuttle, runs from Hualien through Qixingtan Beach, Xincheng Railway Station and Chongde to the visitor center, about 1 hour 40 minutes one way. Bus 302 runs from Xincheng Train Station to the visitor center in about 8 minutes, and bus 302A loops around Xincheng Old Street. Payment is by EasyCard, iPASS, iCash or exact cash, and the driver does not give change.

At the visitor center, the park's suggested walk is the Dekalun Trail, listed as a round trip of 1.3 km taking 1.5 to 2 hours, moderate difficulty with stairs. Afterward, return to Xincheng and walk the old street before you take the bus or train back. This plan avoids the Highway 8 traffic windows, since it stays on the side of the park served by buses. If you are choosing where to sleep around it, where to stay in Hualien compares Hualien city and Xincheng.

The trade-off is depth. A bus day sees the entrance zone, not the marble gorge walls deeper in. If marble canyon views are the goal, you need a car or a guided tour, and you need to read the traffic notice first.

A car, taxi or guided tour opens more of the park, within the limits of Provincial Highway 8. The park's FAQ lists a one-day route from the visitor center to Tianxiang, Xiangde Temple, the Tabiduo Trail and the Lushui Trail, which it describes as partially open, ending at Xincheng Old Street. It also lists a Lushui-Wenshan route to Tuoyou'en as a round trip of about one hour. An easier half-day drive runs from the visitor center to the Taroko Terrace Trail, listed as 1 km and 50 to 60 minutes, then the Chongde Recreation Area at the north entrance of the Chongde Tunnel on Provincial Highway 9, and on to Xincheng Old Street.

The key constraint is traffic control. The park's roads and trails page carries the October 2026 notice for Provincial Highway 8. For the section from Tianxiang to the Taroko entrance, two-way traffic is permitted only in five release periods between 06:30 and 18:00, listed as 06:30 to 08:00, 10:00 to 10:05, 12:00 to 13:00, 15:00 to 15:05 and 17:00 to 18:00. The road is closed overnight from 18:30 to 06:30. For Guanyuan to Tianxiang, two-way traffic runs daily from 06:30 to 16:30. The notice also lists adjusted measures for the Double Tenth long weekend, from 9 to 11 October 2026. Notices are issued monthly after a meeting held in the latter part of each month, so the next month's rules may differ.

If you drive yourself, GOV.UK says UK license holders need a 1949 international driving permit and must have it validated at a Motor Vehicles Office in Taiwan, which the international driving permit guide explains. Roads and vehicles are well maintained, GOV.UK adds, but scooters and motorcycles weave through traffic. Many visitors prefer a taxi or a tour for the gorge, because the timed windows reward a driver who knows them.

Qingshui Cliff is the one major sight on this side of the park that does not depend on the gorge road. The Taiwan Tourism Administration places it on the Suao-Hualien Highway between Heping and Chongde stations and calls it one of the most spectacular sights on Taiwan's Pacific coast: a cliff more than 1,000 meters high that drops almost vertically into the sea, with the highway snaking along its face for more than 20 kilometers. The park's scenic spot list includes it in the Taroko recreation area and does not mark it closed.

Chongde is on the bus 310 route, so a bus day can include a look at the coastline without extra planning, and a driver can stop at a viewpoint on the way north or south. Because the road is narrow and winding, treat it as a place to stop and look, not to hurry through, and leave extra time if you are on a schedule.

Three pages carry most of what you need. The scenic spot list shows which sites are marked temporarily closed and carries a last-updated date at the bottom. The roads and trails page shows the status of Provincial Highway 8 and the month's traffic control measures. The FAQ explains the bus situation and the suggested itineraries. Read them in that order the evening before you go: first decide which sites you can see, then check whether the road to them is open at the time you plan to travel, then choose the transport.

If a notice and this page disagree, trust the notice. The park updates its pages as conditions change, and a closure marked today can reopen, or the reverse, after a storm or an inspection. Screenshot what you read so you have it if signal drops, and recheck on the morning if the weather is poor.

Two longer plans appear in the park's FAQ. The first is a two-day Dali and Datong hike: day one from Hualien or Xincheng to the visitor center, the Dekalun Trail, Dali and Datong, with an overnight stay; day two back to the visitor center. The park lists the round trip from the visitor center to Datong as about 10 to 12 hours, recommends an overnight in Datong arranged through the Tongli Tribe Natural Ecology Autonomy Association, and warns that there are no supply points on the trail, so carry food and water.

The second is a two-day Mt Hehuan trip by car. Day one goes from Taroko to a night at Guanyuan or on Mt Hehuan, and day two covers one or two trails before returning. The park lists the Wuling viewing platform at 3,275 meters as the highest highway point in Taiwan, and says an overnight stay to adapt to the altitude may reduce the risk of altitude sickness. Check Highway 8 traffic control in advance, as the park advises.

Typhoon season normally runs from May to November, according to GOV.UK, with a risk of road blockages and landslides after storms. The park sits in a seismically active zone, and the 2024 earthquake changed its landscape, so check closures before and during the trip. GOV.UK advises checking the Taiwanese authorities' websites after a typhoon or earthquake for road and office closures.

The mild months are March, April, October and November. Summer is hot, and the risk of a storm closing roads is higher. Keep a spare day in the plan, and do not book a tight flight or train connection the day after a typhoon.

Skip a long gorge day if the forecast is stormy, or if you cannot be flexible about timed road windows. Skip it if you only want marble canyon walls and have no car or tour, since a bus day will not deliver them. And skip it if you plan to rely on a single source for road status: use the park's page and the monthly notice.

The first is planning around Shakadang or Swallow Grotto, which are marked closed. The second is assuming a bus will take you to Tianxiang. The third is starting late from Hualien: bus 310 takes about 1 hour 40 minutes one way, so a late start eats the day. The fourth is arriving at a Highway 8 control point outside a release period and waiting. The fifth is boarding a bus without a transit card or exact cash, since the driver gives no change.

Set up data before you go. The eSIM guide compares plans, which helps with live notices, and travel insurance is worth having for closures and weather. For the rest of the east coast, see Hualien or Taitung, and for getting around the island, getting around Taiwan.