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About Hero Pavilion, Chaishan
The Difficulty Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Hero Pavilion (Haohan Pavilion 好漢亭) is my favorite lookout among those many ones along Chaishan (柴山) Trail (Shoushan 壽山). At the elevation around 300 m, it is the highest point I have been in the metropolitan Kaohsiung and it is likely the best location to overlook most of the city and the port. The only price to pay for viewing the scenery is some sweat.
People who ever hiked on Chaishan are aware of its complicated trail network, literally like a cobweb. (Click to view the incredible density of the trails.) There are various routes to reach Hero Pavilion, which are via the smooth old mining road by walking / cycling or via the challenging hiking trail on coral limestone. The steep trail leading to Hero Pavilion is called Haohan Slope (好漢坡), a more interesting path if you prefer to really “climb” a mountain.
Many steep trails in Chaishan are the shortcuts in between the zigzag tracks and so they are usually not too long. Being exhausted is not a big concern although you may sweat a lots on any hot days of Kaohsiung. Getting lost is a more worrying risk. Even Chaishan is beside a big city, the mobile coverage of the area may be unstable from time to time. Therefore, I strongly recommend using an offline topmap such as Rudy MAPs (魯地圖) to guide you through those many trails on Chaishan. This free map offers far more detailed trail information than Google Map.
The hike to Hero Pavilion can be done along many possible routes. You can start the hike from one of the trail heads on the eastern side of Chaishan and choose the route which fits your preference and time. Once passing the Hero Pavilion you may go down toward Shoushan Zoo (壽山動物園). Following the road to the car park where there is a U-bike station. That was the way I returned to the city.
