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Index
Beyond Sanfensuo / The Monolith / The Rapids / Deep in the Danda River Valley / Jianianduan Hot Spring / Jianianduan Campsite / Beyond Jianianduan / The Nitty-Gritty (GPS, GPX, map, and more)
Sanfensuo and Jianianduan Hot Spring (Danda River) Area Map
"To venture beyond Sanfensuo Hot Spring is to truly challenge the wilderness. That is when you really begin to test yourself against Mother Nature's wild side."
Posts in this series:
Sanfensuo Hot Spring: Gateway to Adventure! (三分所溫泉) - Intermediate - Advanced
Jianianduan Hot Spring: A Remote Adventure at the Dead Center of Taiwan (加年端溫泉) - Intermediate - Advanced
Or, check out The Map Room's growing collection of Hot Springs in Taiwan!
Hot Springs in Taiwan Master Map
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
There was a typhoon in late 2023. In early 2024, a group went to see if the hot spring had been affected. They were unable to enter because of this massive boulder which as of the time of this update was blocking the way just before the danger zone. Without specialized gear it is impassable.
Introducing this week's adventure:
Taiwan's Jianianduan Hot Spring: A Remote Adventure at the Dead Center of Taiwan!
Jianianduan Hot Spring (加年端野溪溫泉) is an exciting, remote, challenging, and breathtaking river tracing adventure travel destination in the heart of Taiwan. A rewarding culmination of a three-day, advanced river tracing expedition in the Danda River in Xinyi, Nantou, Taiwan (台灣南投縣信義鄉丹大溪), the journey to Jianianduan is a rite of passage and worthy addition to any canyoning bucket list.
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Beyond Sanfensuo
In the last post, we journeyed to Sanfensuo Hot Spring. While a worthy destination in its own right, for advanced adventure junkies, Sanfensuo is really only the first stop on the way to the real prize: the remote and elusive Jianianduan Hot Spring (加年端野溪溫泉).
To venture beyond Sanfensuo Hot Spring is to truly challenge the wilderness. That is when you really begin to test yourself against Mother Nature's wild side. Out here, days from help, you are more likely to encounter wild animals than human beings, and your skill, wits, and preparedness are your best and only safeguards.
The narrowing canyon of the Danda River grows much steeper, wilder, and more dangerous further upstream from Sanfensuo - but it also grows immensely more beautiful. Striations, seeping cliffside hot spring outcrops, and color surround and engulf you in colors like a mad artist's most beautiful and surreal dream.
Don't be lulled into complacency, though... the rocks above would also love to engulf and entomb any unprepared or unwary passers-by.
While the distance from Sanfensuo to Jianianduan is much shorter than that from the trailhead to Sanfensuo, there are many, and much more difficult, obstacles along the way. Don't be fooled by lines on a map, you will definitely need to leave early and allocate a full day to safely complete the round trip from Sanfensuo (or any lower campsite) to Jianianduan and back. Canyoning in the remote valleys and canyons of Taiwan is not to be taken lightly!
The scenery just kept getting more and more dramatic. Waterfalls, canyons, deep azure pools, and much more dazzled and challenged us all along the whole way.
GALLERY: DANDA RIVER VALLEY BEYOND SANFENSUO HOT SPRING
The Monolith
Despite all the colors, one of the most eye-catching and unique features of the journey was this plain grey rock. A mysterious, near-perfect monolith in the middle of the river, it felt almost like a portent, or perhaps a harbinger, of things to come. Little did we know when we first saw it just how serious of a challenge it marked just beyond!
Before and after: Can you spot the difference between the February (left) and April (right) photos above?
The Rapids
It wasn't far beyond the monolith that Lamin and I came to the untimely and unplanned end of our first, unsuccessful attempt to reach Jianianduan Hot Spring. It was February and the two of us had dared to challenge it on an overly ambitious two day weekend approach. By the time we got to this point it was already evening, and with fully kitted out backpacks it proved too dangerous to continue.
With twilight setting in and several failed attempts to pass these raging rapids, it was clearly time to make the call. Passing this obstacle into unknown and potentially even more difficult sections on the cusp of nightfall with fully loaded packs was not an option, and I definitely did not want us passing through such a narrow and rockfall-prone canyon at night. The time had come to return to Sanfensuo, get out safely the next day, and plan another expedition.
As if to send us off, once we were back the entire valley shook and echoed with the force of an immense rockfall somewhere further upstream: The Danda River clearly did not want us there that night!
Deep in the Danda River Valley
It wasn't until April that we were able to come back, this time three men strong. Gone were any illusions of a quick, two day trip; we set up base camp on night one at Sanfensuo, took only the essentials for a day two trip to Jianianduan and back, and made sure to face this section of river well rested and ready in the morning. Even still, we only barely made it past the rapids, and it took all three of us working as a team to do it both going up and coming back down again.
Once we passed the rapids, the entire valley became much more intensely colorful and beautiful. If we had thought it stunning before, now it was absolutely breathtaking! Still, we proceeded with caution, and hoped the Danda would see fit to allow us to leave without taking out breath away permanently!
GALLERY: DANDA RIVER VALLEY BEYOND THE OBSTRUCTING RAPIDS
Jianianduan Hot Spring
Having passed the most serious obstacle so far, we wondered what still lay ahead. We had yet to encounter the waterfall and landslide lake that we had heard so much about, and they were said to be the most difficult of all the obstacles.
We had already passed by their reported GPS coordinates, though, and it wasn't long before we reached Jianianduan itself. We were so focused on finding them that we actually almost went right past the hot spring without even noticing it! The landslide dam and waterfall had been washed away so completely that we had seen no sign of them even though we had been watching out the entire time.