Date: Jan 9th 2022

SHA TIN PASS (LION ROCK)

An early morning venture recommended for this visit to HK's most infamous rock face. The location is only minutes from downtown Kowloon, easily accessible (especially by🛵) and offers dramatic views of HK’s legendary vertical concrete jungle + Lion’s Rock, of course. All of which makes it a very popular destination for hikers so an early visit avoids the crowds.

R+R typically prefers to be off the beaten track but we had to tick this one off and mark a route around this iconic area. All told, we were pleasantly surprised by the runnability of the surrounding trails; a relatively short track but fine balance between technical mountain climb, fast running forest trails + water catchment.

Note: we’ve subsequently mapped an alternative, extended version of this track that bypasses the more technical Lion Rock climb, keeping to the flatter, faster Mac Trail, taking in Beacon Hill and looping back around to pick up our original trail; should add another 5-6km’s in distance and make for a more runnable loop; looking forward to trying this one in the near future.

THE RIDE 🔥🔥

Riding from the island, the route couldn’t be more direct; through Cross Harbour Tunnel and straight up Route 1 via Hereford Rd (gets a mention as namesake of my UK hometown ❤️). Hitting Shatin Pass Rd the ride gets more interesting with a winding hill climb, with one-way access so only traffic concern comprises early morning hikers. It’s a unique experience and feels good to be riding these tarmac km’s, preserving energy for the more interesting stuff at the top.

Arriving at our destination we pass a renowned noodle shop, well-known to HK Trailwalkers as providing a welcome respite mid-way through the event. Here, we find ourselves at the crossroads of two of HK’s trail titans, Maclehose and Wilson. Coincidentally, if looked at on a map this also marks pretty much the exact centre point of all HK. The return ride is fun with a long descent of one-way Shatin Pass Rd with sweeping views of Kowloon.

START / FINISH POINT 🅿️🏪🚻

No official parking but plenty of quiet side roads and grass banks to act as base for a scooter (more limited options for car). The noodle shop wasn’t open when we were there so make sure to bring your own provisions if arriving early. Toilets are available opposite the noodle shop, at the start of our route.

THE RUN 🍺🍺

Entering Lion Rock Country Park, we start with a lung-expanding climb of Maclehose stage 5 before reaching some gently sloping trails to open our stride. The respite is short lived though as we veer away from the Mac and up towards Lion Rock. Hitting the top it’s easy to see why people are drawn to this spot - we even encountered a family camping at the Peak! 😬

Not wishing to qualify for any Darwinian insta awards we kept away (mostly) from the sheer drops and headed past Lion Rock Head, stopping halfway down the mountain for a close-up view of  Lion Rock; which strangely, resembled more a human face from this distance (see photo).

We re-join the Mac trail briefly before bearing right at Reunification Pavilion, down and along some inviting, forested trails + steps that slope back around the north side of the mountain. The trail flattens out as we turn right and along a water catchment route; not typically our favourite running terrain in HK but in this case, comprising a wide, sand-based track surrounded by forest so a pleasant contrast to the city aspect of the Lion Rock side of the mountain. We take one more climb up Mau Tsai Shan which flattens out at the top to provide a forested trail back back towards base camp.