last update: 8/2025
A footpath between Su’ao and Hualien was first built between 1874 and 1876 as part of a program to assert sovereignty over eastern Taiwan. It was later widened by the Japanese, with nine bridges constructed, 14 tunnels built, and the road surface covered with gravel.
(View towards Su’ao from the old road.)
The highway was opened to vehicular traffic in May 1932. However, the northern section between Su’ao and Taroko was only 3.56 meters wide, allowing for just one-way traffic at a time. In the 1980s, this northern section was widened again to accommodate two-way traffic, with construction completed in 1990. The Suhua Highway Improvement Project, completed in 2020, bypassed three sections of the highway that were particularly vulnerable to landslides.
(The view of the sea is fantastic.)
Shortly after Su’ao, a large section of the original Japanese-built road had already been bypassed. In 2013, while waiting with my tour guests from Wikinger after a bus had caught fire (a common incident in Taiwan at the time), I wandered around and discovered the first overgrown entrance. Later, I returned with my family, and we ventured inside. It was a fantastic experience, though a bit risky.
The road was already heavily overgrown in some sections, leaving only a narrow strip. There was never a guardrail—this road had always been dangerous.
We passed some landslides and walked about 2 km before reaching a large collapse. Local people had fixed ropes to descend to the beach, but our kids were too small at the time, so we turned back.
You can see the connection on the opposite side. When I returned in 2018, it had already become very dangerous—crossing one landslide felt like a life-or-death gamble.
By 2020, the path was no longer passable. Since 2022, the entrance has become so overgrown that it is no longer possible to enter.
A real surprise: In August 2025 I drove past and saw that the entrance once again seemed passable. I went in about 300 meters. The road has become more overgrown, but the major landslide from around 2023 has been cleared, and the spot is passable again. How this is possible, I don’t know.
Only a small part of the formerly about 5-meter-wide road remains.
I don’t know what they store.
(Copyright Claudius Petzold)
