Shek Lung Stream (石龍坑 )

Duration: 
2 hours, 10km

Difficulty:

8/10. 200m. Light rock climbing, rope climbing, bushwacking

Cel phone coverage: Mostly everywhere

Water needs: 1 liter

Appreciation:
10/10 after a lot of rain when waterfalls are full (as pictured) , 7/10 otherwise. Very tall waterfall.

Transportation:

Bus 234B or 53 from Tsuen Wan West MTR station (Bus terminus on top of station). Return via same bus across the road, or any one of the green minibus stopping at MTRs.

Map & Details: http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/2361558572/

Why it's worth it:

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

Get off at the Ting Kau stop. 

Go over the bridge behind you

Climb the little "bump" in the road, and take the road to the right...

... that road to the right...

About 15 minutes walk in, you'll see the waterfall which is the stream's entry-point

You need to cross the catch-water on the left of the waterfall, cross the waterfall, and climb-up on the right to bypass it. There's a visible footpath at the top. Then hop back in the stream

You'll reach this nice waterfall (石室瀑) and pool. Most likely will be dry-ish if it has not rained a lot.

Bypass is on the left as pictured. There's a yellow ribbon marking the bypass

The last, big waterfall is the Stone Dragon Waterfall (石龍飛瀑). Bypass is on the right.
The stream section is no more than 500m long

At the top of the bypass, you can go left to reach the top of the waterfall, snap a few pictures and come back. Head right to go back to town

Just follow the path which should be mostly visible throughout, until you reach this concrete catch water...

... which leads you to these stairs which you must take

Back on the service road. Head right and it will get you back to where you started

Head-left and take one of the numerous buses/mini-buses that will take you back to Tsuen Wan

Qiu Feng stream trek (秋楓石澗 )

Duration: 
3 hours (more if you are going to take swimming breaks), 4km

Difficulty:

7/10. The waterfalls can be by-passed.

Cel phone coverage: Mostly everywhere

Water needs: 1 liter

Appreciation: 8/10. Best after rainfall. Nice large pools for a swim

Transportation:

96R from Diamond Hill MTR right to Lady MacLehose Holiday Village stop (holidays only). Or get to Sai Kung, then take bus 94 and get off at  Lady MacLehose Holiday Village stop. Return the same way.

Details: http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/2326519589/

Why it's worth it:

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

Lady MacLehose Holiday Village stop. About 20 minutes on bus from Sai Kung

Right off the bus, keep going on the road for maybe 50m, just before the curb (there's also a trail going up that you will see in the distance), cross the road and go down to the stream, right over the railing. Go down to the stream and head left in the water. There are 2 streams merging more or less at the entry point, QiuFeng is the leftmost one.

The first 200-300 meters in the stream is flat. No worries, it gets nicer afterwards!

About 30 minutes in (500m), you'll reach the first large waterfall which can be bypassed on the left (or climbed right up in the falls as I did). But, the water is so nice, take a few minutes for a dip! Don't litter! I'm watching you!

Bypass on the left again. Nice pool with clean water

You'll then arrive at the One-line-fall (一線瀑), about 1.2km into the stream. Quite beautiful when full but it does look a bit scary. Never fear, you have an option to bypass it on the right as there's a path getting you to the top of the falls. Or, if you feel adventurous, climb the falls as pictured above, on the left

Another nice waterfall and pool after. Last chance for a dip.

Can be bypassed on the left but trivial climb in the waterfall itself

Coming close to the end of the stream now. You can miss the rock formation with the stream gently dropping in the middle. Just climb the rocks on the right as pictured. 

Then, about 5-10m after that climb is the exit of the stream, on the left. It is marked with a ribbon. However, if you can't find the ribbon, no worries as the path is no more than 5m away so you can pretty much exit anywhere around that area and find the path. Head left on the path, back towards where you started.

You get on a paved road and you'll eventually see the trail signage on your left with stairs going down.

That's where you want to go

Next fork is here. Go left so you can reach Pak Tam road close to the 'Lady MacLehose' stop.

Pak Tam Au will also work but is going to be a bit more bus-ing

There you go, back on Pak Tam Rd where you head left and get take Bus 96R back to Diamond Hill MTR on holidays, or 94 back to Sai Kung

Tso Kung Tam Stream (曹公潭)

Register and get cash back:

http://amex.com.hk/refer/jEANCCqqi5?CPID=100433829

Duration: 
1.25 hour, 3.5km

Difficulty:
6/10. You'll need your hands

Cel phone coverage: Everywhere

Water needs: 0.5 liter

Appreciation: 7/10. Nice (very) short stream. Probably best after a lot of rainfall

Transportation:

Tsuen Wan MTR, exit 'A'. Return the same way.

Details: http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/2254416185/

Why it's worth it:

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

Exit 'A' at Tsuen Wan MTR station. Just follow the elevated corridor that seems to be going on forever until you reach the Sports Centre

There's a piazza at the end of the corridor, go across, to the left. You'll find escalators going down.

Those ones... Almost there!

Go straight and you'll see the catch water on your right...

... that one! Just follow it...

... until you reach the stream proper. Enter the stream. Quite easy.

Big rocks, no real need to enter the water unless you want to. You'll see a larger waterfall on your left.

Keep going in the main stream

When you arrive at the first large waterfall of the stream, just climb on the right.

Maybe 5-10 minutes later you reach this spot, can't miss it. That's the exit point. Quite short eh? You can probably also continue in the stream but that will be another adventure, for another time!

You'll see a concrete access road on the right...

... barrier probably going to be closed, just hop over and follow the path going towards Route Twisk

Just before you hit route Twisk, you'll see the Nature Education & Astronomical Centre

Head right on route Twisk

After a 15-20 minutes walk, you'll see stairs on your right and a tunnel at the bottom that will let you go underneath the highway.

Right after the tunnel, overpass over the train tracks and back to the never-ending corridor where you will head left towards Tsuen Wan station. Cheers!

(Upper section) Tin Mei Hang stream 田尾坑涧

Duration: 

3 hours

Difficulty: 7/10. Not too hard a climb but so narrow and full of branches at times that I had to crouch. 

Cel phone coverage: Everywhere

Water needs: 2 liters

Appreciation: 3/10. For the upper section (up from the bridge). Really didn't like it. It is a minor stream, very few and small waterfalls. Ants bit me, grass cut me. Not a happy time

Transportation: Bus 94 from Saikung all the time, or 96R from Diamond Hill on Sundays and public holidays. Get off at Sheung Yui stop. Return the same way.

Why it's worth it:

Really, it isn't. Skip this one or keep to the lower section (but then again, why go all the way to Saikung for this). Will need to check out the lower part of the stream someday

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

Stream portion in red

Sheung Yui bus stop. Keep walking in the same direction the bus was going for about 1 minute to the fork

Head right at the fork, towards the High Island Reservoir

At the pavilion, take the left road. That's about 20 minutes from the bus stop

Keep walking past the first bridge

The second bridge is around this corner (notice the tombstone)

That's where you enter the stream. About 40 minutes walk from the bus stop

15 minutes into the stream

The only fork in the stream. Take a left and prepare to be... underwhelmed

The upper stream is a lot of this... I don't like it. And spider-webs aplenty...

At one point, you'll think you are lost as the stream gets ever narrower and is basically just a trickle. You will arrive at the source of the stream. There will be a path on the left. Take it and it will take you to a 4-way path fork

The 4 way path fork. Take a left and climb up. Stay on the leftmost path pretty much all the time.

Some nice views but no need to go through the hassle of climbing the stream

More nice views. You'll eventually loop back to the pavilion