By an affluent of Sanxia’s Dabao Creek called Rueizai Creek, there sits a lovely haven with waterfalls, ecology, and red maples: Manyueyuan (Full Round Moon) National Forest Recreation Area.
About a 40-minute drive from Sanxia, Manyueyuan National Forest Recreation Area is situated at an altitude between 300 to 1,700 meters. It is cool and humid throughout the year, cultivating a rich fern ecology. Even “Fan Fern”(Gonocormus minutus), with its high demand on the environment, can be found here as well. There used to be a small-scale logging business conducted here; the neatly-arranged manmade forest seen today serves as the testimony.
The Recreation Area also boasts a rich ecology of avifauna, amphibians, and butterflies, such as the rare Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush and Varied Tit, the prominent avian stars in Manyueyuan! The red maples around December are also fabulous, and made famous by the epithet: “Taiwan’s prettiest maple red at low altitude."
Manyueyuan Waterfall and Chu’nu (Virgin) Waterfall at the end of the hiking trail are two major attractions of the Recreation Area. Standing on Manyue Bridge, you will see the Manyueyuan Waterfall with the upper part concealed behind one big stone wall about ten meters tall, rushing down with a sound like thunder. The Virgin Waterfall, on the other hand, is more graceful and gentle. Lighting refracts and dances amidst the water and mist in broad daylight; splendid rainbows are revealed around the waterfall from time to time.