Qilan Forest Farm

Qilan Forest Farm

Qilan Forest Farm is located in the area surrounding Taiwan's Snow Mountain Range, centered on the northern ridge of the mountain. The western side of the ridge belongs to the drainage basin of the Tamsui River, while the eastern side belongs to that of the Lanyang River. It spans across Yilan, Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Taichung counties, covering a total area of 45,799 hectares. The forest farm was established in 1949 and originally consisted of forested land allocated by the Forestry Administration Bureau to the Veterans Affairs Council’s Forest Development Office for the resettlement of veterans. After decades of development, it has grown into its current scale.

During the Japanese colonial period, the government had already taken note of the resources in the Qilan Forest area, but development had not yet begun before their defeat and withdrawal. After the war, the Nationalist government vigorously developed the forestry industry. Once Qilan Mountain was handed over to the Veterans Affairs Council’s Forest Development Office, a timber harvesting plan was put into action. Among the forest areas managed by the Veterans Affairs Council, logging activities were primarily concentrated in the Qilan Forest area — both in terms of duration and volume, it ranked first. As such, Qilan Forest can be considered representative of the Veterans Affairs Council’s logging operations. The Forest Development Office set up a workstation at Qilan Mountain, beginning operations in May 1959 and ceasing logging in June 1994, making it the last logging site in Taiwan to do so.

After logging operations were halted, the Forest Development Office designated parts of Qilan Mountain as a forest recreation area, including six compartments in the Taipingshan Working Circle: compartments 23–27 and 30, covering a total area of 1,717.15 hectares. The forest recreation area applied to the Taiwan Provincial Government in 1992 and received approval in 1994. However, according to records, it had already opened to visitors and started charging admission fees in 1992. Between 1992 and 2001, a total of 1,056,176 visitors entered the park. The area features the renowned Sacred Tree Grove, as well as facilities such as Chiang Kai-shek’s former residence, along with two forest hiking trails for visitors to enjoy.

Cilan Mt.Forest

Must-visit reason: Taiwan’s largest forest farm

Continent where the attraction is located: Asia【Asia】

Country/Region where the attraction is located: Taiwan[Taiwan]

Province/State where the attraction is located: Yilan County, Taoyuan County, and Hsinchu County [Yilan County, Taoyuan County, and Hsinchu County]