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INDEX
The Entrance Area / Siqu Hot Spring / Tracing In (and important safety considerations) / Laka Hot Spring Campsites / Laka Hot Spring / Laka Rainbow Waterfall / Exploring the Area / The nitty-gritty (GPS, GPX, and more)
"Laka Rainbow Waterfall (拉卡彩虹瀑布) and Laka Hot Spring (拉卡野溪溫泉) are absolutely stunning, and that day we had perfect weather and sunlight to enjoy them in!"
The Map Room's Map of Hot Springs in Taiwan
Introducing this week's adventure:
Jinyue Waterfall (金岳瀑布): Thunder and Wonder in Nan'Ao
Two hot springs, a rainbow waterfall, and amazing scenery the whole way: Join us as we river trace up Nanao Bei Xi (Nanao North River / 南澳北溪) to Siqu Hot Spring (四區野溪溫泉), Laka Hot Spring (拉卡野溪溫泉), and Laka Rainbow Waterfall (拉卡彩虹瀑布)!
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The Entrance Area
Ever since I began exploring the rivers and canyons around Nanao, the area has just never ceased to surprise me. It's is such an amazing river tracing destination! Between hot springs, waterfalls, canyons, and beautiful deep pools, the possibilities are pretty much endless.
There are three main rivers in Nanao - Naoao North River (南澳北溪), Nanao South River (南澳南溪), and the Lupi River (鹿皮溪) - along with several smaller traceable creeks as well. Today we're going on an adventure up the Nanao North River, taking in two hot springs and a stunningly beautiful rainbow waterfall along the way. The destination: Laka Hot Spring (拉卡野溪溫泉) and Laka Rainbow Waterfall (拉卡彩虹瀑布). We will also get a nice bonus as we pass Siqu Hot Spring (四區野溪溫泉) along the way.
Starting out the trace is easy. Just follow the directions in the GPS and GPX in the Nitty-Gritty Section (below), park, walk to the end of the road, and follow the obvious trail down to the river.
Siqu Hot Spring (四區野溪溫泉)
After a little while, you will come to one last section of the road that has been broken off from the section which is still driveable. Once you come down from there, take a look across the river. There is a small, but easy to reach, hot spring right there. Simply cross the river, and you have arrived at Siqu Hot Spring!
Siqu is pretty easy to reach, and if you're just looking for an easy and relaxing trip, you'd probably just stop here. But if you want more of a challenge, and a much more beautiful destination as a bonus, don't spend long at Siqu. Head on up the river to Laka Hot Spring!
Tracing In (and important safety considerations)
Laka Hot Spring CAN be a low-stress, intermediate-friendly river tracing option, but there are some important safety considerations that need to be addressed:
You have to go when the water is low.
This might seem like a no-brainer, but the Nanao North River is notorious for high water levels. If a storm goes through, it will likely be weeks before it is passable again, so try to get information about the water levels before going, and have a backup plan (like Jinyue Waterfall or Heliu Canyon) in case you need to go somewhere else.
The river is known for suck holes.
Water often flows under and between the many boulders (above, below) in the river. This causes dangerous suck holes, and if you get sucked into one there is a very strong chance you will never come out alive. Just be wary if you see water disappearing under a rock and not coming out on the same side.
There are a lot of annoying boulders to climb over, under, and between.
Pretty self explanatory. Basically, don't over pack! I made that mistake... wow... yeah...
Safe and UNSAFE camping options
QUESTION: Look at the two pictures above and below. Both look like nice campsites... but one is great, while the other is extremely dangerous! Can you tell the difference? Try to figure it out before scrolling down.
ANSWER:
The top picture is a good campsite, while the bottom one is not. Notice the surrounding terrain: The top one is next to a gently sloping valleyside, while the bottom one is exposed directly under an opposing cliff. The cliff is nearly vertical, which means the chance of rockfall is significant. We even found freshly fallen, jagged rocks strewn all over the false 'campsite.'
Laka Hot Spring Campsites (拉卡野溪溫泉營地)
Once we got to Laka Hot Spring, we immediately started looking for a campsite. We soon found several, including this very nice one just meters from the hot spring area. It had the added bonus of being a little elevated above the river, so that even in the unlikely event of rain and a rising river we would be fine.
Here is another even nicer campsite right at the river bend (above). It even has a nice, fresh water source flowing right into the main river (below). This could be useful when there has been rain upstream and the main river is a bit dirtier.
Laka Hot Spring (拉卡野溪溫泉)
After only three and a half hours, we arrived at Laka Hot Spring. It didn't take all that long, and conditions were good, but I had underestimated the terrain, with all its boulder climbing, and packed a pretty heavy pack full of extra, heavy stuff.
Boy did I regret that! I ended up turning what should have been an easy and fun trace into WAY too much work! But that only made the hot spring all that much more rewarding.
It's a pretty good sized hot spring with plenty of room in several pools. There are different temperatures available, and lots of beautiful, colorful hot spring algae to enjoy.
Just remember not to overdo it!
GALLERY: Laka Hot Spring (拉卡野溪溫泉)
Laka Rainbow Waterfall (拉卡彩虹瀑布)
Now Laka Hot Spring is, of course, the most famous attraction on this trace. However, there is another very cool thing to see: Laka Rainbow Waterfall!
Laka Rainbow Waterfall (拉卡彩虹瀑布) is absolutely stunning, and that day we had perfect weather and sunlight to enjoy it in.
The waterfall was absolutely FULL of rainbows that day! There was even a double ring rainbow that followed us around!
Climbing up into the pool area at the base of the waterfall takes a little work, but it's not too hard.
Even if you don't want to go up into the pool area, you can still enjoy an amazing view from the main river.
Exploring the Area
Once we were done with the waterfall, it was time for some more exploration. Lamin got out his drone and... well... he lost it. But don't worry, he ended up getting it back after a little while!
From there,