Summer Hike: Pat Sin Leng to Bride’s Pool Waterfall

My stubborn attempts at trying every single trail in Hong Kong have resulted in several hits and misses. This one was a hit.

Distance: 4km

Duration: 2h

Difficulty: 2/5

**Important: Read the photo captions, especially the last one, for information on how to get to the waterfall after the hike.

What do you do in Hong Kong’s humid summer when you don’t feel like sunbathing, or doing watersports in the questionably refreshing waters?

I really felt like getting outdoors and doing a bit of exercise, but the hot hot heat can be so ~~hot~~ discouraging / draining. Thank God we randomly selected this perfect trail for the summer. Perfect, because most of the path was shaded by foliage, plus crisscrossed by streams and rivers to cool down. And it ends in a decent waterfall – Bride’s Pool.

I didn’t see any of the other Bride’s Pool itineraries pairing this awesome hike with the waterfall, so I thought to share it with you. Instead of doing the shitty Bride’s Pool Nature Trail (which is barely a trail at all at 700 metres – and you have to take it to get to the waterfalls anyway) – starting your day with this trail rounds out the whole experience. I mean, you came all the way to the Northern New Territories (Tai Mei Tuk / Plover Cove) – might as well take the whole day out to enjoy it!

The path is well signposted

The trail entrance from Tai Mei Tuk

Get to the start of the trail:

We took the MTR to Tai Po Market Station. DO NOT take the double decker KMB bus like we did – that was excruciatingly slow. Instead, take the Green Mini Bus 20C to Tai Mei Tuk.

At Tai Mei Tuk, there are maps and signs everywhere pointing to the trail

We were a bit embarrassed to see how short the trail was compared to the others. BUT IT WAS BEAUTIFUL and just right for that day

I’m going to do Plover Cove (15km) at some point, when I’m fit enough and it’s not so hot…

From the get go, you are already rewarded with views of Tolo Harbour and Plover Cove Reservoir, and some islands

You can see the dam clearly in this one, plus the daunting Ma On Shan Massif (Maclehose 3 / 4, which I have yet to do…)

One kilometre into the trail, DON’T take the shortcut to Bride’s Pool Road. I don’t know how we knew but we followed the other path

Nature trail isigna

We began the hike at 12nn and at a leisurely pace finished it in 2 hours, exactly as the Hiking app predicted.

It was raining the day we went (Saturday), but we were drenched with sweat enough as it was that it hardly mattered

WE COULD SEE CHINA at some point, and received China Mobile signal on our phones

The path was absolutely lovely, not too cemented, but laid out naturally with stones

Another reason why I decided to go with the waterfall rather than the beach was because it had been raining all week – meaning good chances there’d be a healthy flow of water and a good cascade!

Found the bridge to cross the river

They’ll tell you you can’t swim but we ignored them. Later on more people came in swimming attire which told us this was a regular watering hole… literally…

The first animal to find the drinking spot!

How did we know it was safe to swim? There were fish swimming around. They actually unnerved me so much I couldn’t stay in the water.

IMPORTANT! Finding the actual waterfall is different from doing the Pat Sin Leng Trail. To end up at Bride’s Pool, take the eponymous nature trail and then cut through to the river. Then start trekking up the river boulders because the path will not lead directly to the falls.

I hadn’t slept well the night before this hike but I am so happy I did it. Days like those make me feel a little bit better about being back in Hong Kong, which apparently still holds pleasant surprises in its pockets of greenery. 🙂

Other beach / summer hikes you might want to try (even I’m shocked at how many I’ve done and actually blogged about!)

I hope you enjoy as much as I did! 🙂 Leave me a comment if you have time.

And don’t forget to follow my new blog www.morenatravels.com

xoxo