[Family Travel]Crazy Fun on Taiwan’s Longest Slide: Baiguo Mountain Scenic Area

It’s a childhood memory for many locals. The slide was previously damaged, so it was closed last year for renovation and reopened at the end of 2015. We took advantage of the four-day holiday and included it as the first stop on our way home to show San Ye around.

Baiguo Mountain Children’s Playground is a fairly large park with a sloped terrain overall. We parked near the entrance at the bottom, so we had to climb a long flight of stairs after entering.

San Ye was super excited. Hearing that there were fun things to do up top, he dashed ahead. Mom wanted to take a photo of his back from under the stairs, but the lens could barely capture him as he sprinted by.

After climbing the stairs, we continued up the stone steps. To the left was the hillside, and to the right, we first saw a concrete plaza, much larger than the typical small circular skating rinks found in regular parks.

It seems like a great spot for kids to practice riding bikes or inline skates. Outside the plaza, under the big umbrellas, is a stinky tofu vendor. A bit further up, you’ll find plenty of amusement facilities. There are also many small stalls offering water balloon fights, sand painting, fish catching, and other playful activities.

San Ye spotted a tunnel entrance and crawled right in. Only then did he ask us, “How do you play this?” Neither of us had seen this kind of amusement facility before either. It formed a rather narrow corridor. He asked, “So how does this work?” Soon, he excitedly crawled out. Then he cooperatively got back in, striking several expressions and poses inside, letting me snap quite a few photos.

San Ye went in headfirst again, then asked, “How do you play this?” I told him, “You stand inside and take a photo with Daddy.” Right after I said that, he immediately crawled in with him. He then posed for several expressions and movements, giving me plenty of photo opportunities.

Going a bit further past the fishing game stall, the colorful, moving contraption successfully caught San Ye’s attention.

When he saw this, there was no need to ask how to play — he darted straight for it.

There are two or three such slide facilities in the park. Though they might seem similar to us adults, the kids find them all fresh and exciting. San Ye’s comment: “I got to play on so many different slides!”

Looking a bit further up to the left, you can see the star attraction here — “Baiguo Mountain’s Super Long Slide”!

This ultra-long concrete slide cleverly utilizes the slope of the hill. It looks to be over two stories high, right? There are stairs on both sides to climb up, and the middle splits into two lanes. Both lanes have a slightly steeper and more thrilling section at the start. After that, the slope becomes gentler. Near the exit, the final stretch turns into a mild slope where you either have to manually “paddle” or stand up and walk, so there’s no need to worry about going too fast and bumping your tailbone.

Looking down from the top, there are snack stalls just outside the railing. One sells dry noodles and the like, and next to it is a path leading further up the mountain. Not wanting to let San Ye slide alone, my husband and I took turns accompanying him. From this angle, you can see that the part going through the small tunnel is quite steep. It was steep enough that even sitting at the starting point made me a little nervous.

San Ye was a bit shaky before his first slide, but after one ride, he immediately cheered, “I want to go again!” He zipped up the stairs so fast that his parents were left chasing behind, legs sore.

It seems San Ye was really satisfied with this slide.

My husband was taking a photo of me and San Ye when he accidentally captured a “line” of kids sliding down below — it looked like they were surfing down a water slide. You can probably tell they were going pretty fast. I’ve heard there have been cases of kids getting injured or adults scraping their skin.

The section labeled “Yuanlin Baiguo Mountain” is completely flat. You have to stand up and walk to the next slope to continue sliding.

If there’s no one waiting in line behind you, this makes a great spot for a commemorative photo. (Could this flat section have been designed just for photos?)

After sliding several times, sweating profusely with a flushed face, he finally agreed to sit down and drink some water. But even while drinking, his eyes never stopped scanning around, afraid of missing any fun activities. (In the upper right background, there’s a tall “iron horse” hiding.) After resting, we took San Ye down the hill, pointing out anything he hadn’t played on yet.

The park has several rope climbing frames like this. I remember that back in the day, these facilities were mostly made of iron, with neat square grids. These irregular rope frames seem a bit more challenging.

San Ye happily crawled inside, looking very agile as he started climbing up.

He climbed only a little before flashing a victorious smile. We asked him, “How are you going to get down?” He replied confidently, “I know how!” and soon he popped out.

Aren’t you the same elephant from my elementary school? What are you doing here? (He got headbutted.) Seeing this elephant really brought back some nostalgia. Compared to the other slides, this one is taller, steeper, and faster, with no side rails, so extra care is needed with younger kids.

There are quite a few nostalgic playthings here. Hidden behind the elephant are two more, and there are many others we didn’t manage to photograph.

This is another nostalgic item. I remember these being a staple in elementary schools and parks when I was a kid. They seemed to disappear almost entirely later due to safety concerns — haven’t seen one in ages.

Near the center of the park, there’s a big pumpkin (to the left in the distance is the restroom). (In front of the restroom, there are a few cement-painted cones, which seem to be used for playing ring toss with hula hoops.)

Funny enough, despite its size, it didn’t catch San Ye’s eye until I pointed it out. He dashed over, but some of the smaller doors inside were sealed off — you can only walk around and come out the other side.

After coming out, he dashed off again, wanting a photo with the pumpkin in the background. Once again, the camera couldn’t quite catch him in time.

Keep walking and you'll reach the other end of the entrance at the very bottom — and there’s a delightful surprise waiting for you. It turns out there's a sandbox here—yes, a sandbox—and not just any sandbox, but a huge one!

Due to traffic jams from the extended holiday, we got a bit lost and arrived much later than expected. By the time we finished playing, it was already past noon. We had originally planned to have lunch at a nearby family-friendly restaurant and let San Ye play in the sandbox there. But after discovering this sandbox, we spontaneously decided to grab a quick bite somewhere close, eat first, and then come back to continue playing. Fortunately, all of San Ye’s sandbox toys were in the car. This not only allowed us to extend our playtime but also saved us the cost of a meal at a family restaurant.

The sandbox is enclosed all around with safety nets, which I think is a great feature. For one, it helps prevent outside trash and waste from stray cats and dogs; for another, it means you don’t have to worry about your child suddenly running off or being taken away unexpectedly while playing.

The sandbox is quite spacious, with a raised area in the center that looks like a small island. There’s a little bridge leading from the entrance to the island, and together, the island and the bridge divide the sandbox into two sections.

The area to the left as you enter is larger and has fewer shaded spots around it.

The area next to the island and on the right side is shadier. The early bird catches the worm, and the early-arriving kids catch the shade—ha!

Fortunately, the weather was nice that day. Though sunny, there wasn’t much strong sunlight, and the shade by the island was more than enough for us!

In this photo, the middle of the island and the other side of the small bridge are visible — I’m standing right against the safety net in the background.

Caught grandpa not paying full attention to playing because he was scrolling on his phone.

Another thing I really appreciate is that the sand here is fine-grained. Nowadays, many parks use very coarse, chunky sand, which is not only hard to mold but even difficult to pile up into little hills.

Fine sand offers so many more play possibilities. That day at the sandbox, we met a sweet pair of little sisters who politely asked to borrow some toys. Soon, they were playing together. My husband and I watched them from the side, feeling truly grateful. Meeting good playmates is such a stroke of luck for both San Ye and us (San Ye is happy, and we save energy—haha)!

We managed to pry San Ye away from the sandbox by promising, “We’ll go to the family restaurant to play later.” Right next to the sandbox is a slide, and San Ye, reluctant to leave, insisted on going down it a few more times before getting in the car—looking quite displeased as he slid. Thankfully, after playing to exhaustion, he fell fast asleep the moment we got in the car, and we arrived in Kaohsiung smoothly and peacefully. And true to our word, we took him to a family-friendly restaurant in Kaohsiung (you can’t trick kids—you have to keep your promises, something my husband and I both firmly believe in!). We’ll sort through the photos when we have time and share our thoughts on the restaurant with everyone later!

Overall, this is a fantastic large park, though you do need to be mindful of the safety of younger children when using the super-long slide. Another small downside is that although there are shops and residences around the park, there isn’t a convenience store within walking distance. So, for items you might need on an outing, it’s best to pack everything as if you’re going hiking or on a picnic!

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