虎頭山中福宮 Hutoushan 23-27

It may not be necessary to introduce this sector in detail, since it is already popular and attended by all kinds of offroad MTB riders. There is an dirt / jumps park featuring all kinds of ramps as well as a downhill circuit used for MTB competitions. It attracts a lot of riders on week-ends, especially busy on Sunday morning. The place iis known by local riders under the name 中福宮, which is a small temple in the middle of the dirt park. This is the right place to show off your new bike or to destroy your old one !

Several routes wind around the 中福宮 and 太極宮 temples, and if you are lucky enough, there will be monks singing and playing music there while you are riding. Truly outstanding.

The main tracks are also regular hiking routes, so be careful about pedestrians !
The temple loop #24 is a smooth 1K loop between 中福宮 and 太極宮 which difficulty is to climb a 10% slope on a dirt road. It is also a way to climb uphill and join the routes #23 and #25. Grade 3-.
The hikers route #25 (signs in chinese : 賞心悅目景觀台) is also mostly smooth and I often use it to climb uphill (some walking). Grade 3-.
The Taoyuan express #27 is a dreadful irregular rocky line passing some steep sections where the stones may roll faster than you. Signs in chinese : 2好漢坡. Grade 4+.
An variant #27b avoids the steepest section of #27 by turning left at a ramp. Grade 4.

The flower lane #26 connects Taoyuan express #27 to the end of the hikers route #25. Excellent for looping. Grade 2.
A little bit aside but connecting with #25, the bridge route #23 has a short very technical section in roots, stairs, well not very interesting. Grade 4.
Eventually there are several remarkable branches from the hikers route #25 :
- #25b a nice ridge starting from the junction to the 太？宮 temple and joining the temple loop #24. Grade 3+.
- #25c is the ridge starting from the first U-turn in #25 (chinese sign : 同心景觀台). This is a DH race route, extremely difficult and hazardous. Grade : 6.

Additional information 其他資料: There are lots of excellent pictures and video of the place on internet. Look for 中福宮. Check this video to understand how insane it can be : 中福宮紀錄江政昱 !
Access 通路: General access : check our map.
From the top : on Chenggong road section 3 (桃11), the hikers route and Taoyuan express start very close to the 9K sign. Sign in chinese : 福頭山登山口.
From the bottom : many small lanes east of Dayou Road lead to this area. For general orientation, they are north of the Mitsukoshi department store.  
Drinkable water 飲用水: Only on Dayou Rd.
Itinerary 行程: No worry, all the tracks here end up in Dayou Rd. Quite a different atmosphere as can be seen below. Use routes #24 and #25 to ride uphill.

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