Just before the cold properly settled into Hong Kong, we did one last ‘beach’ hike from Discovery Bay to Mui Wo (Silvermine Beach). Entry and exit points clearly defined, serious uphill workout at the beginning, glorious grasslands and vistas up top. 

Distance: 8.4 km (The actual country trail is just 3.4 km but we included getting in and out of the proper trail)

Duration: 3 hours (I guess we were slow that day?)

Difficulty: 2/4 (But if you actually go up the “Tiger’s head”, then I’d say 3/4)

You can either start this trail at Mui Wo, which is the ‘traditional’ way of doing it, gradually going up the Mui Wo Islands Nature Heritage Trail and Olympic Trail. We started from Discovery Bay because the ferry schedule suited us better, and climbed up the “Tiger’s head” from the front rather than going along its spine.

“Tiger’s head” is “Lo Fu Tau” in Cantonese, the name of the trail. I never realised there was a legendary beast looming over Discovery Bay until we did this hike, which I randomly selected off a long list of trails I printed years ago.

There’s not a lot of tree coverage on this trail – luckily, it was overcast when we went, so the sun wasn’t beating down on us unbearably.

Get there

Turn right from the Discovery Bay ferry pier and get on the main road where the buses are. Cross the street and keep walking until you see this on your left

You don’t actually have to go up the tiger’s head; local hikers told us we could skirt around the right if we didn’t want to scramble on our hands and knees.

Below are the signs that we followed at the start and end of the trail. The Olympic Trail, which I haven’t done yet, runs from Tung Chung to Mui Wo across Lantau Island.

I’ve done part of the Mui Wo Islands Nature Heritage Trail on bicycle until it was too rough to use the city bike on. It passes by a cave, a waterfall, and other points of interest.

Make sure to bring enough water because the trail can feel a bit long. We were losing a lot of water at the beginning, which was a challenging assault, and kind of ran out 3/4 of the way through, which was not nice. My feet were also beginning to hurt, especially since the last part goes all the way downhill towards Silvermine Bay.

We ate at Deer Horn Nepalese restaurant by the Mui Wo ferry afterwards; unfortunately it wasn’t as good as I remember and I feel a bit guilty having dragged the whole group there. I was too hungry to care too much about what I was eating though; ordered a vegetable curry. After, I rushed home because I needed to get myself dolled up for the Hong Kong Rugby Union Charity Ball…

And that’s it! \Let me know on the comments below if you have anything to share about this trail, or anything to say really 🙂