Hong Kong Trail, Section 3: Peel Rise to Wan Chai Gap

Tobias Bengtsson,

Overview

This section continues the Hong Kong Trail where Section 2 left off.

Section 3 is for the most part a very quiet and soothing walk through the forest, so this article is not going to be very long. The walk is around 6.5 kilometres and should take around 1 hour 45 minutes to complete from the starting point of the section.

Signs 'Hong Kong Trail'
Turn left when finishing section 2 to get to section 3.

If you want to go straight to the photos, see Photos: Hong Kong Trail, Section 3.

Start of Section to the Forest Trail

I walked section 3 right after section 2, so I did not have to bother travelling to the starting point; however it should be possible to take transportation to Aberdeen and walk to the starting point in about 15 minutes.

The section starts by walking uphill on Peel Rise. It's probably enough uphill to get your pulse up but nothing particularly challenging. The road is broad and paved.

After about 500 metres, you get to a place where the trail turns right into the forest. This is a start of a 6 kilometre forest walk.

Sign 'Hong Kong Trail' leading into the forest
Trail turns here.

It should also be noted that there is a way to cut a kilometre or so of the trail by taking the stairs that goes up on the right hand side of the trail very close to the starting point.

Through the Forest

There is really not much more to say about this section; it is indeed perfect if you like this kind of hiking through forest.

Forest trail
Most of section 3 looks like this.

You will see a couple of streams and bridges (similar to the latter part of section 1) but the vast majority will just be a soothing forest walk.

A stream
A stream along the route.

Just walk straight along the path and follow any signs that says Hong Kong Trail and it's very easy to find the way.

When you're finished, you can either continue on section 4 or walk uphill for a while on the car road to Wan Chai Gap bus station; there are buses taking you to The Peak, Wan Chai, Admiralty and Central.

Car road going up
Walk up this road to get to the Wan Chai Gap bus station.

Summary

I really enjoyed walking this section after the intense (in terms of views, not physically) sections 1 and 2. It is said to have medium difficulty, but I can't really see why it would not be labeled easy. There are some stepping stones to cross a couple of streams that could be tricky if the water is high, but on a dry day I think this is an easy walk.