【 Type of attraction open for tourism 】

• Length of trail: Ilan Section (From Suao to Dazhuoshui) of 50km and the entire trail (From Suao to Xincheng) extends some 115km.
• Time required for the trip: A deserted trail with collapsed sections, it is not possible to give any exact time for a trip at this time.
• Difficulty: High difficulty.

【 Management 】

• Environmental limit: Not sensitive to ecological environment.
• Intensity of development/Type of facility: To keep the area as this is, the area should be banned from major exploration and only local repairs shall be provided to the trail at this time. When necessary, number of tourists shall be kept under control, as this is a Type 2 National Trail.

During the Qing Dynasty, 3 main trails were built in Taiwan for freight. The one in southern Taiwan is the Kunlunyueh Historic Trail , the one in Central Taiwan is the Batunguan Historic Trail , designated today as Class A ancient remains and the one in northern Taiwan is the Suhua Historic Trail , which has not seen visitors for over one hundred years.

The Suhua Historic Trail begins at Suao in the north and it goes by Dongau, Wushihbi, Nanao and ends up at Xincheng in Hualian. Over the past decades, some experts have been insisting that the Suhua Highway is actually the so-called North Trail opened by LUO Dachun in the Guangshu Years of the Qing Dynasty. LUO Dachun, who led an expedition force and country army, started the road-building work in Suao. The work took 2 years and when ready, it became the first mountain trail in east Taiwan. The North Trail of the Qing Dynasty is a valuable trail both in communication and historical significance. WU Yunghua, a local field investigator, presented hard evidence in his investigation report on the Ilan Section of the Suhua Historic Trail , suggesting that the Suhua Historic Trail is not related to the Suhua Highway we know today. The one that is related to the Suhua Highway is the coastal highway built later by the Japanese. With the coastal highway built by the Japanese and the widened Suhua Highway, part of the Suhua Historic Trail is either lost or abandoned. The paths we see in Suao, Dongao and Nanao and the remains of the Qing Dynasty Army barracks are living witnesses.

The Shihqiangzai Trail, opened by the Qingshui Cliff and vulnerable to typhoon, earthquake among other disasters, is the southernmost part of the Suhua Historic Trail . With the coastal highway built by the Japanese and the 3-time-widened Suhua Highway since 1945 as well as repeated destruction by the local mining industry, the entire Historic Trail is nowhere to be found. The sector between the south entrance to the Zondeh Tunnel and Shihqiangzai is the only one preserved, as we can see stone stairs with writing and the zigzag line. The Seaside Steep Stone is the most characterized one. The trip along the trail allows one to overlook Zondeh, Xincheng, Liqu Rivermouth and the Pacific Coast. Far below is the Suhua Highway with inviting views. In the woods, one would see boars, monkeys and crabs.