ed. 2026/3/1
It’s not really a vanished or enchanted place. The road and the ruins at its end are considered an excursion destination, even if the beginning of the road is somewhat steep. On the way up, you can see the endless concrete plants—some modern, others decaying. This is where the stone used to be delivered. Along the way, you can repeatedly see the pylons of the cable car.
A few kilometers further uphill, you encounter the first non-human beauty: the turning station of a cable car. A few photos to get pleasantly lost in.
Lets interrupt for some explanations: Anpingkeng Forest Road is located between Dongshan Township and Nan’ao Township in Yilan County, spanning the watershed areas of the Lanyang River and the Heping River. It mainly passes through Compartments 75 of the Luodong Working Circle to Compartment 26 of the Nan’ao Working Circle. The road was originally constructed with a length of about 17 kilometers. Because the areas along the route are rich in limestone resources, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency has leased the road to a cement company for use as a mining transport road, with a total length of 18.04 kilometers. The current starting point of Anpingkeng Forest Road is located at the end of Township Road Yilan No. 35, at the boundary of Compartment 75 of the Luodong Working Circle. A control station was originally established at the entrance to regulate outside vehicles.
The entire structure is still clearly recognizable, and the old cable car cabins are standing everywhere.
The machines are still recognizable.
You can climb to the higher levels without any difficulty.
Now it’s several more kilometers to the quarry, again and again offering brilliant views into the mountains.
The former levels are still clearly visible.
And now comes the ultimate final destination:
The stones were brought here from the mines by truck. This ruin is a hammer mill. The stones were carried upward on a conveyor belt. From there, they went back down through a drum to separate the smaller stones from the larger ones. The larger stones were crushed again.
When we arrived, the employees weren’t exactly thrilled that we climbed inside, but it wasn’t forbidden. They also mentioned that this beauty is planned to be demolished soon. Too many people are climbing in,
I guess.
Danke an die Heulsuse für die Fotos!
The road used to be a loop, but it’s now interrupted. We tried it from the other side, where you can still see cable cars and abandoned settlements.
After the rain, the road was unfortunately flooded—not really suitable for a new rental scooter.
