Wilson Trail – Hong Kong

Along with the Maclehose trail which I wrote about here, the other big hiking trail in Hong Kong is the Wilson trail, while Maclehose goes east to west, Wilson goes south to north. It is not quite as long as the Maclehose trail at 78km, however it is more difficult overall. I didn't complete the whole trail in one go with this one, but did each of the different sections over the course of the year I lived there. The trail goes through 8 different country parks across Hong Kong and crosses over with the Maclehose trail on a few occasions. As this trail runs from Hong Kong Island up into the New Territories you will have to catch the MTR if you plan on doing the whole hike in one day as it crosses the Victoria Harbour and it was designed with the use of the MTR in mind.

The Wilson trail is separated in to 10 sections ranging in length and difficulty, the shortest section is 4.8km and the longest is 10.6km, my personal favourite section is section 7 which takes you across Shing Mun reservoir, this is also part of the Maclehose trail and is my all time favourite hike in Hong Kong, if you are following the Wilson trail markers this section will end up at Yuen Tun Ha. This section will give you excellent views of the reservoir with its amazing blue water, beautiful trees and plants, as well as the local monkeys!

This website has a ton of useful information about which buses will take you to the start of each section and take you home at the end. If you are aiming to do the whole hike in one go, getting to section 1 is very easy as it starts on Hong Kong Island, take the 6, 6A or 206 bus from Exchange square in Central and get off at the Wilson Trail stop on Stanley Gap road.

For me the most challenging hike was when I combined together sections 7, 8 and 9 which go from the Shing Mun reservoir and then over Cloudy Hill. Finishing section 7 was no problem and was a pleasant and easy walk, that said, it was over 10km, so by the time I finished it I was starting to feel it in my legs, but I powered on thinking that "Cloudy Hill" doesn't sound too threatening, how hard could it be? Turns out this cute sounding hill was a relentless, rocky, bumpy beast! There are around 2,000 steps in total to get to the summit, and going down the other side was a mixture of steps, slopes, and rocks. This hike is not ideal for intermediate hikers as even I struggled with it at points, I highly recommend taking a hiking buddy with you. By the time I got to the road at the end of the hike I was totally wiped out and it was night time, I had taken a torch just in case so it was fine, and it wasn't my first time hiking at night, but it wasn't something I was expecting to do that day. I got in my Uber from the road I ended up on and the next thing I remember was the Uber driver waking me up because we had arrived at my house!

Like the Maclehose trail, the Wilson trail has easy to follow trail markers, these are placed every 500-650 metres, and the pathways are, for the most part, clearly marked. There are some sections of the trail where you should absolutely be paying attention to where you are going because the trail is not clear. As I mentioned the Wilson trail is also more difficult than the Maclehose trail, many of the pathways are made up of big or uneven rocks, some of the sections should not be taken on by inexperienced hikers if you are going solo. You also need to be aware of wildlife that you could come across along the trail, you will absolutely see some monkeys but they will leave you alone as long as you don't bother them and don't have food out. The animals you really need to be wary of are feral dogs, dogs in Hong Kong are often used for security in more rural areas, but will regularly be abandoned and become feral, they can and will attack you if they feel like you are intruding on their territory and there are points on the Wilson trail where you can easily take a wrong turn and end up near abandoned construction areas with feral dogs. If you see or hear one go back the way you came to avoid them.

There are a few sections of the Wilson trail that end in places that are not accessible by public transport so you will often have to walk an extra few km to finish your hike, here are the additional distances you should account for at the end of your hike in order to reach the closest bus stop;

Section 4 - 1.8km

Section 7 - 1.2km

Section 8 - 4.3km

Section 9 - 3.3km

The website I linked earlier has excellent detailed information on getting home from each of the sections, so I highly recommend taking a look at that if you're planning on doing this hike!

According to this article, if you plan on doing the whole hike in one go it should take you approximately 31 hours. For comparison, on the same website it estimated that the Maclehose trail would take 35.5 hours and it actually took me 28, but this will entirely depend on how fit and healthy you are, how many breaks you take, and how many times you stop to take photos. It is a good guideline, but always prepare to spend longer than it suggests as you never know when you will run into a pack of wild dogs, take a wrong turn, or spend an hour trying to get the perfect drone shot!

I highly recommend giving this hike a go, it will take you through some amazing natural places that are completely off the beaten track! It is incredibly challenging and will push you to your limits, take lots of water with you and have fun!