Hiking Hong Kong Discovery Bay to Tung Chung

Well this is another big hike from Discovery Bay to Tung Chung. For my photo taking tour it took me 4 hours to complete this hike in 20 degrees celcius temperature and low humidity and best of all a sunny sky - perfect conditions.

This hiking trail gets 3 stars for enjoyment due to the fact that a lot of it is on paved trails. Were it not for this, I would give it 4 stars as it offers some fantastic views of Discovery Bay, the Discovery Bay Golf Course, and it passes through some small villages. It gets 4 stars for difficulty as the initial climb really takes it out of you.

The best starting point for this hike is right from the Plaza at Discovery Bay ferry pier or if you arrive on the bus from Tung Chung (DB01R) or the Airport (DB02R) or Sunny Bay (DB03R). Below is the current timetable for the ferry as of the 6th January 2009.

Proceed from the ferry pier along the water front to the left, up the gentle slope past the busses and turn right onto Discovery Bay Road. Follow the road untill you reach the stairs leading up to the left pointing to Midvale Village.

Follow these stairs to the top and cross the road through the garden and follow the subsequent road around and up to the left past the high rises which are referred to as the woods.

At the end of this road keep to the right and take the path marked by the sign that says about 500 meters to the lookout.

At the end of this path take a right up the daunting stairs. Follow these stairs up, not forgetting to turn around at look at the views from here of the Discovery Bay Plaza and ferry pier area.

At the top of the stairs turn left the right up a few more stairs and right again to continue along a paved path that leads to some more stairs.

Continue off-road up the slope. Be careful along here as there are many rocks and hard ground that can become very slippery if it is wet or very humid.

Take the first right at the rubbish bin that leads up to the lookout point. Some sections of this path can be very slippery due to the slippery nature of the fine sand that is used to pave this path. Take care not to slip along here.

Once you have reached the lookout, enjoy the views for a moment before moving on. There is a sign up here (much like a compass) that points to different areas of Hong Kong. If it is a clear day you can make them out reasonably well. From here it is hard yakka so take a good break drink some water have a snack and then move on.

From here continue along the paved path (there are some steps to the right - be sure not to go up these) until you see a small dirt path leading to the right. Look up - this is where you will be headed. Good luck with that. This path is all off road and very rocky as well as covered in slippery gravel so do be careful when traversing this section.

This track seems to go on forever. Be sure to keep heading towards the top of the mountain as there is one track that leads off to the right (don't take it - it goes back to Discovery Bay). Just before the top you will come to a T intersection. Turn left for some fantastic (all-be-it very windy on most occasions) veiws of Discovery Bay and Hong Kong off into the distance (if you can see that far). Turn around and continue your journey up the last section of this killer hill.

At the very top you will come to a Trig point (concrete post). Walk past this and follow the path down and along the top of this mighty mountain. I was pleased to find that the Government are improving this path that leads to a mid point between Tung Chung and Mui Wo. It has been widened significantly to about a meter and makes for a welcome change from the days when you had to wear long pants to avoid being scratched to bits by the overgrown foliage. Thanks to these newly widened paths it would actually be very suitable for a mountain bike. In fact the rest of this path from here to Tung Chung could be comfortably completed on a mountain bike (if you can be bothered to haul it up the first 500 vertical meters of this track.

Continue straight along the newly formed track. This path continues for quite a while with no shade and pretty much the same views over and over again until you see a glimpse of Mui Wo over the mountains and as you pass by the back of the Discovery Bay golf course.

After enjoying the views at the golf course continue on until you reach the end of the gravel section of the hiking trail. Here the path joins onto the hiking path that goes from Mui Wo to Tung Chung. Take a right to head towards Tung Chung.

Well the location of this sign is not the best seeing as we travelled along this entire path before seeing it. In fact this hiking path is much better than it ever was so any danger is most likely to be very minimal.

From here we enjoy (or not) a concrete path all the way to Tung Chung. Follow this path until you reach a sign that points to Tung Chung New Town. Follow it.

Evidentally this is the Hong Kong Olympic Trail. 2.4km to Tung Chung (I suspect it is more than this - I am not sure where the start of this trail is) or 2.76km to Mui Wo (same thing here).

Once again this is evidentally the extension to the Lantau North Country Park. I suspect this will connect with the extension that appears to be making its way via the newly widened path to Discovery Bay and possibly on to Disneyland where I suspect they will contruct a lookout over Disneyland at the top of the hill there. Let's hope that they do not decide to concrete that path though...

Cross the bridge, go straight (slight bend to the right) at that junction past the cactuses on the wall, then take a left to Tung Chung New Town. You do not want to go down this path to the right of the sign as it leads to a bee farm with wild dogs guarding it (and believe me they are not friendly) and also to the shore by a small fishing village off of Tung Chung New Town.

Cross the bridge and keep to the right of Tung Chung New Town. When you see the toilet block bear to the left and follow this path until you reach some more civilisation.

This tree looked stunning. I just had to take a photo of it. You will find it right by the toilets.

As you can see I love these shots where the sunlight streams through any type of tree. The bamboo in the top shot reminds us that we are in Hong Kong.

Approaching civilisation once again. On the right: Old Dunnies vs. New Dunnies. I know which I prefer.

Sometimes you may encouter some semi wild dogs however they are usually nothing to worry about. Often they will bark from a distance but as you get closer they run away. Again as you leave they come out of hiding to bark at you once more as if they have successfully defended their territory. For the most part I wouldn't worry. If you happen to be afraid of them make sure not to look them in the eye, try not to show any fear towards them and for the most part do your best to ignore them.

Continue through this town (actually I am not quite sure if this is Tung Chung New Town or if the last village was) and enter the tunnel at the end of what I suspect is the beginning of the Hong Kong Olympic Trail. This takes you under the road a railway line to Tung Chung. Come out the other side via the ramp and follow the long, hot, concreted road to Tung Chung. I have never seen any cars on this road, but just in case keep an eye out.

When you reach the back of the petrol station keep to the left between the concrete wall and the fence. When past the petrol station and on the road take a left at the end, passing Carribean Coast.

Follow the road until you reach the back of the shopping mall. Go up the steps to the left and enter the shopping mall. Take the escallator up into the main shopping area.

This is a good time for a rest or a bite to eat after your long hike.

Take your pick. The is a small cafe up here, the Novotel have a great lunch or dinner buffet which is reasonably priced and there is also a large Pacific Coffee up here if you just want to sit back and chill.

If not, continue through the mall untill you reach the escallators and go down, twice. Exit the shopping mall where you can eithe head towards the Tung Chung MTR station or catch a Taxi nearby or go the other way (behind you) to the bus terminus where you can pretty much head anywhere, including back to Discovery Bay.