Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area

About an hour's drive from Daxi, Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area was once a logging compartment of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (formerly the Forestry Bureau), leaving behind many forestry relics such as yarders, cableways and log carts hidden along the interpretive trail. Today you can stroll through mist-shrouded, beautifully ordered Japanese cedar plantations and climb to the 1,212-meter summit of Dongyanshan for views stretching from Taoyuan to greater Taipei. A reforestation memorial stone beside the Dongyanshan forest road bears witness to Taiwan's forestry past. The area is ecologically rich, with about 43 species of mountain birds and numerous mammals — even the white-faced flying squirrel, usually found at mid-to-high elevations.