Hiking Tai Lam Chung Reservoir (Thousand Islands Lake)

1 Introduction

Few hikes are as unique as the Tai Lam Chung Reservoir Hike in Hong Kong, this reservoir is famous for its countless islands sitting within the reservoir. In fact, the first time I saw photos of it, I was convinced it wasn’t in HK! For this reason, it comes as no surprise that the Thousand Island Hike is one of the most Instagrammable hiking spots out there.

A common question asked is whether these islands are real or man-made. The answer – a bit of both. These islands were actually hills prior to the flooding of the Tai Lam Chung Valley to turn it into the reservoir it is today. The reservoir gets its Thousand Islands Lake nickname from the man-made Qiandao Lake (千岛湖 – which translates to Thousand Island Lake word by word) in the Zhejiang Province, China, where 1,078 islands sit within the waters!

Located in the western part of the New Territories, the Tai Lam Chung Reservoir hike is relatively easy. The hills aren’t too steep, and a lot of the way is covered by shade, making it suitable for hikers of all ages.

2 Hiking Summary

Hiking Directions

3 Getting there – Tuen Mun to So Kwun Wan

Tai Lam Chung Reservoir is relatively far from the rest of Hong Kong. Getting there by train involves taking a huge loop around Yuen Long to get all the way to Tuen Mun. We need to take a minibus from Tuen Mun, so you can either take a train or a bus there depending on where you live.

If you’re taking the train, take Exit D to get to V city. Walk across the mall and exit from the other side via the bridge.

At the end of the bridge, take the elevator down to the street level and wait at the bus stop. The 43 and 43S minibuses will take you to the start of the route at So Kwun Wan village.

Here’s the route the minibus takes. You will need to get off at the last stop – pretty hard to miss since the bus will make a u-turn and head back to the station at this point.

4 Starting point – So Kwun Wat Tsuen

After getting off the minibus, walk towards the flags and you’ll see these yellow signs. Head towards the arrows pointing leftwards (i.e. Area 4).

Keep walking along the route. Thankfully, it’s mostly covered by shade.

Continue walking straight along MacLehose trail.

The walk is pretty calming and not steep at all. Along the way, I saw some goats just chilling off to the side.

Once you reach the junction, continue walking right to walk up the slope.

It’s pretty much a single path from here on out. Walk past the Tai Lam Chung Reservoir Small Dam to keep going up.

You should begin seeing glimpses of the islands along the way. The view isn’t the best so I wouldn’t waste much time stopping here.

Continue along the trail. I reached this part which was completely covered by trees and full of autumn leaves on the ground. I thought this looked pretty cool.

Once you reach the Distance Post M183, take the path to your right.

Here’s a photo from the path. Head towards MacLehose Trail (10), which is in the same direction as the Reservoir Islands Viewpoint.

Keep heading straight past the columns. There’s only one way here.

Walk along the path till you reach the stairs.

You’ll start to notice a lot more stairs along this path. It’s not at all difficult.

After a bit of walking, you’ll finally reach the Reservoir Islands Viewpoint.

Only 200 metres more!

Unfortunately, more steps to scale!

5 View from Reservoir Islands Viewpoint

Here’s the view from the top. Definitely worth the hike.

Here’re a few more shots.

This spot on the bench offers an excellent view. It’s a great place to unwind after the hike, particularly on a hot day – as this is the only spot with some shade.

6 Drone shots

The view of Ta Lam Chung Reservoir from above is as stunning as you’d expect. If you’d like to get some cool shots like this, be sure to go on a clear day. You won’t be able to see the full extent of the islands on foggy days.

The vertical shot captures a lot further back.

Here’s the lookout point. There isn’t a huge amount of space, but it should be more than enough.

Going a bit further up, you get a clearer picture of the rest of the hills within the Tai Lam Chung Country Park.

7 Conclusion

The Thousand Islands Hike is a great hike for the whole family. It’s easy, it’s fun, and the view is gorgeous. If you’re looking to try something new, I’d highly recommend giving this a crack.

8 FAQs