Caihong Waterfall (彩虹瀑布 [Cǎihóng Pùbù]; Rainbow Waterfall)

The Caihong Waterfall (彩虹瀑布 [Cǎihóng Pùbù]; meaning “Rainbow Waterfall”) was one that Mom and I had to work a bit for. While we technically only hiked around 1.6km round trip from the nearest parking area that we could find (which itself involved a dicey drive up a single-lane road; see directions below), the hike was steeply and relentlessly uphill. Given that our visit took place on a pretty hot, humid, and sunny day, it became quite a deceptively tiring hike. Since this waterfall was pretty much right above the Dongpu Hot Springs (I’ve also seen it spelled Dongbu Hot Springs), if ever there was a proper pairing between a waterfall hike and relaxing at a hot spring, I’d say this would certainly fit the bill.

Sadly, due to time constraints, Mom and I didn’t engage in soaking in a hot springs here nor did we see any of the namesake rainbows despite the fine weather. What we did see, however, was a plunging 25m waterfall contrasting against blue skies with that on-top-of-the-world feeling after having climbed so high to get here. For all the effort it took to get up here, we were disappointed to see the area was spoiled by a huge mesh of pipes running before the main waterfall, and especially further downstream above an intermediate waterfall on the Bading Stream (八頂溪 [Bādǐng Xī]). This made us wonder if there was some water diversion going on with this waterfall to feed some of the hot springs in town further down the mountain.

Initially, we started hiking from the main road running through the town of Dongpu. We had doubts about being able to drive up a narrow steep road that began almost immediately from its turnoff deviating from the main road. But when we spent around 25 minutes of relentless uphill hiking along the mostly single-lane road, we saw that there were more parking spaces. And it wasn’t until we reached a particular cafe (that wasn’t open at the time) with a distant view of the Caihong Waterfall still way up the mountain did we decide that I should go back down the road, pick up the rental car, and make the drive up to the highest car park that we could get to. Once we did that, we then started the hike with the minimal amount of climbing left to do. Had we walked all the way up here from town, it seemed like the overall hiking distance would have been about 3.1km round trip with over 350m of elevation gain instead of around 1.6km round trip with over 200m of elevation gain.

So after leaving the car, we went through a little area between a handful of buildings before the foot trail picked up as the path ascended a series of steps leading up to what appeared to be a longhouse at the end of a switchback. The trail would continue its relentless climb while being mostly exposed to the sun as we made it up to a long and high suspension bridge called the Rainbow Suspension Bridge (彩虹吊橋 [Cǎihóng diào qiáo]) at a little over 400m from the trailhead. This bridge actually provided a little bit of relief from the humidity because there was a bit of a breeze that passed through. But the bridge also reinforced this top-of-the-world feeling as we could glimpse part of Dongpu way down below while the immediate gorge floor was also pretty far down below our feet. This was definitely not the kind of bridge to be on if you have a crippling fear of heights.

Beyond the bridge, the path continued to climb while weaving in and out of shaded and non-shaded areas. At around 200m, the trail skirted around an intermediate waterfall within what was apparently called the Lover’s Gorge (情人谷 [Qíngréngǔ]). As stated earlier, the presence of a mesh of pipes or wires really took away from what would otherwise be a nice and relaxing spot. After another 100m of uphill walking along the Bading Stream, we finally reached the end of the trail where we were right before the Caihong Waterfall. At least with this waterfall, the pipes and wires were mostly alongside the lower parts of the Rainbow Waterfall, but we still thought they were eyesores.

As for the rainbow, our arrival to the falls at around high noon meant that we needed to be somehow higher up on the trail and looking more down at the falls. Since it wasn’t possible to do that during our visit, I suspect that the more optimal time to see a rainbow would be later in the day when the sun would sink lower on the horizon. But that would mean that it would still have to be sunny towards the late afternoon, and the adjacent mountainsides must not block the sun’s rays either. In other words, it seemed like that all the planets had to align in order for this waterfall to live up to its name. That was kind of a bummer, especially since things in and around Dongpu seemed to be named Rainbow this or Rainbow that while numerous walls and railings had rainbows painted on them.

Overall, Mom and I had spent about a little over an hour to do the last 1.6km round trip of hiking. I could have easily taken us 2-2.5 hours round trip had we walked up all the way from the town of Dongpu Hot Springs.