The Alishan Flower Season Begins – Recommended Cherry Blossom Routes & Scenic Spots

By the MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network Editorial Team
 
Early spring is when the flowers of Alishan are in full bloom, with beautiful cherry blossoms painting the mountains in shades of pink, creating an especially romantic atmosphere. This also makes the Alishan Flower Season a highly anticipated annual travel event for visitors. The 2016 Alishan National Forest Recreation Area Flower Season will be in full splendor from March 10 to April 10, featuring dozens of cherry blossom varieties and as many as 1,900 trees, all waiting for visitors to admire and take photos with.

The Alishan National Forest Recreation Area is in full bloom, with cherry blossoms being the most prominent. Thousand Island Cherry, Mountain Cherry, Yoshino Cherry, and Double Cherry blossom in succession. At their peak, the park has seen over 400,000 visitors in a single month, with tourists coming from around the world. To maintain the quality of tourism, visitor numbers are controlled during the flower season, with a daily limit of 16,000 people. During the first three weeks of the season on public holidays (March 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27), traffic management measures are implemented, along with long-distance transfer services from Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung to Alishan. Visitors using public transport to enter the park during these periods can enjoy a discounted entrance ticket price of NT$150 (original price NT$200) by presenting their bus or train ticket.

Below are two recommended cherry blossom routes and seven scenic spots for cherry blossom viewing, helping you plan your Alishan spring cherry blossom trip in advance.
Cherry Blossom Routes:
◎ Starting from the Alishan Hotel, passing through the Plum Garden and the Alishan Police Station to the Zhushan Trailhead. This cherry blossom walking path is just over 600 meters long, lined with decades-old Yoshino Cherry trees on both sides.

◎ Starting from the Zhaoping Train Station, passing through Zhaoping Park, Sister Lakes, Shouzhen Temple, Ci Yun Temple, Alpine Museum, Tree Spirit Pagoda, Xianglin Junior High School, Three Generations Tree, and Elephant Trunk Tree to the Alishan Hotel, the route is approximately 2.6 kilometers long. In addition to cherry blossoms, other flowers such as magnolia, iris, Rhododendron simsii, and Taiwan pleione also bloom during the flower season. With a riot of blossoms everywhere, the scenery is truly magnificent.