Full Moon Circle Forest Recreation Area

Full Moon Circle Forest Recreation Area

The Full Moon Circle Forest Recreation Area is located in the southeastern suburbs of Sanxia District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It gets its name from nearby Full Moon Circle Mountain, which has a round, full-moon-like peak. The park mainly consists of a deep valley surrounded by peaks such as Full Moon Circle Mountain, Xiongkong South Mountain, North Chatienshan, Lakashan, and Dongyan Mountain. Including the Chatienshan Nature Reserve, the total area spans 1,573 hectares, with elevations ranging from 300 to 1,728 meters. The forest is lush and scenic, making it a great destination for family leisure and holidays.

As the Full Moon Circle Forest Recreation Area is mostly mid-to-low altitude mountainous terrain, its forest type is primarily natural broadleaf forest, with some areas of planted forest. The natural forest mainly features plants from the Lauraceae, Fagaceae, Moraceae, and Aceraceae families, with common tree species including Taiwan incense cedar, camphor tree, large-leaved nanmu, fragrant nanmu, pigfoot nanmu, machilus, wild mallotus, banyan, Taiwan yellow phoenix, sweet gum, and green maple. The forest floor commonly includes taro, giant taro, snake root grass, and ferns. The planted forest mainly consists of economically valuable species such as Taiwan red cypress, Chinese fir, Ryukyu pine, and acacia. Due to its dense vegetation and complex ecosystem, the area boasts rich flora and fauna resources.

In addition, the Full Moon Circle Forest Recreation Area is home to many stunning waterfall landscapes. Among them, the Full Moon Circle Waterfall, situated on the main stream of the Neizai Stream, is the most spectacular. About 20 meters high, the upper section of the waterfall is partially hidden by a vertical rock wall over ten meters tall, while the lower section flows into a clear pool. The waterfall cascades down with impressive force. Not far behind the Full Moon Circle Waterfall lies the Silver Curtain Waterfall, which is small and delicate, about 2 meters high and 5 meters wide. At noon, sunlight shining through the valley gap reflects off the waterfall, making the water droplets sparkle like a silver curtain.

Manyueyuan Forest Recreation Area

Must-visit reason: New Taipei City’s most famous forest amusement park