Hong Kong Trail Section 5 & 6

Duration: 

(7.5 kilometers)
3 hours

Difficulty: 6/10. 

Cel phone coverage: Everywhere

Water needs: 1 liter

Appreciation: 8/10. Great views of the harbour at Jardine's lookout

Transportation: CTB bus 6 from Exchange Square. Get off at "Wong Nai Chung Reservoir Park". Do not take 6x as it goes through the tunnel. Return on Tai Tam Rd via NWFB bus 14 to Sai Wan Ho MTR station, or green minibus 16 to Chai Wan MTR station.

Why it's worth it:

---------------------------------------

Wong Nai Chung Reservoir Park bus stop. It is right by the Shell gas station. Climb-up the stairs. You'll end up on Tai Tam Reservoir Road.

Head left on Tai Tam Reservoir Road. Keep walking on Tai Tam Road until you hit the trail head which will be on your left. About 10 minutes walk.

The trail head, across from the Parkview housing complex.

Right at the beginning of the trail, just make sure you take the stairs on the right.

Quite hard to get lost on the trail, just follow the signagne and stay on Hong Kong trail. The milestone signs are pre-fixed with an 'H'. The little hiking guys are also displayed. The Wilson and Hong Kong trail overlap for about 2km, just make sure not to take the Wilson trail at the crossroads a short time after the quarry, keep going straight on Hong Kong trail

You'll eventually get to the top of Mount Buttler. At this point, it's pretty much down all the way...

After about 3k (not sure why the official maps say 4k), you'll reach the end of section 5. Many roads cross here. Make sure to take the Tai Tam Tuk road (not a path at this point), on the right. The road gently slopes down

You'll eventually arrive at the dam, which you must cross. Then end to the left. Keep following the HK trail signage.

You'll arrive at a point where the road you're on keeps going straight but there are stairs on your left. Take the stairs. You are about 20 minutes away from the end of Section 6

You'll arrive at the end of Section 6. Can't miss it, there's Tam Tam Road and the big board with the trail map. The bus stop is on your right, about 100m away. Be super careful as there are no sidewalks. HK gov should really do something about that...

MacLehose Section 6

Duration: 

(4.6 kilometers) Between 45 minutes and an hour depending on walking speed.

Difficulty: 3/10. Quite easy, really short.

Appreciation: 4/10. Kinda boring but if you like monkeys, you'll see plenty! If you want full bragging rights for MacLehose, you gotta do it.

Transportation: Many ways to get to the starting point from many MTR stations. Check bus routes 81 (Jordan Road next to Austin MTR, Nathan road next to Prince Edward MTR), 86 or 86B for the most convenient one (http://hketransport.gov.hk). Stop at 石梨貝水塘 SHEK LEI PUI RESERVOIR. 
At the end of the trail, just follow my instructions to get to Wo Yi Hop Road where you will be able to catch buses going pretty much anywhere you need (city bus 278, 278x, 248p, etc, or green minibus 94/94a to Kwai Hing MTR) or even walk to Kwai Hing MTR which is about 1km away.

Why it's worth it: 

----------------

Click to enlarge

The Sheik Lei Pui Reservoir bus stop were you will get off.
Go under the bridge.

You will be walking for about 150 meters and then turn left towards the reservoir. 

Follow the path over the birdge by the reservoir, then over the dam.
Pretty straight forward from that point on. Just follow the MacLehose signs.

This section is quite short. Just highlighting the intersections where you may  be unsure where to turn.

Done already? Yep. After the incredible beauty of the previous sections,this is a bit of a downer.

But let me get you back to civilization.  Follow Shing Mun Road road.

You'll reach an intersection where a path veers sharply and goes down. That's the path you want to take.

Just follow that road down until you reach the pumping station.

There will be a flight of stairs down to  Wo Yi Hop road where you will find a bus stop.