Previous post —> Taipei Grand Trail | Day 5
Monday 16 March 2026
Section 7: National Chengchi University to Taipei Zoo MRT Station via Maokong 貓空 Tea Plantations (12.3km)
Our final day of hiking the Taipei Grand Trail, and what a beautiful day it was, 24°c and sunny!
The official start of Section 7 is at Linguang MRT Station but turns out the first gem isn’t until Zhinan Temple Trail, so we caught the bus to the National Chengchi University and started there, saving ourselves about 2 hours of hiking.
The first section of the trail is 1000 steps up to Zhinan Temple and Lingxiao Palace, and the steps are numbered!
We saw some nice views from the top before passing by the cable car, which comes up from Taipei Zoo. The trail continues around Maokong and several tea plantations, a popular day trip for many tourists and locals.
We did two big climbs before descending via Zhongshan Temple, reaching the official finishing point at the back end of National Chengchi University. It was an extra 3km along the river back to Taipei Zoo MRT station for a total of 12km.
Aside from all the stairs the hike today felt like a breeze, and having collected all the virtual gems on the app we’re now entitled to a few prizes. I believe you receive a Grand Trail towel, a set of badges and certificate, but they don’t start sending them out until after June.
We’ve had an enjoyable time hiking the Grand Trail courses – they have a new challenge and prizes each year so we may come back in the future and do it again!
eat bike fly 