Calm lakes, mesmerizing green trees, adorable monkeys and a lovely afternoon walk

ome people heard and others know that you can see quite a few interesting animals in Hong Kong. The only Hong Kong panda in Oceanpark is the designated ruler, since it is one of the beloved Chinese animals. There is also the Wetland Park with the multitude of birds. There is many of those everywhere, especially circling around your head while you are hiking. But all of them seem so distant, with the exception of the monkeys!

Hong Kong has it’s local population of macaques. You can sometimes see them around the buddist temples – an equivalent of a stray cat that comes for a visit sometimes. You never know how wild they are, some people are feeding them. It is not like you would touch them, but the view and their proximity is spectacular.

In Kam Sham Park is one of many parks in the region. It is less of a hill hiking area and more of a bush-forest terrain. It is situated very close to Kowloon. You can spend there 2-3 hours, walking the easy trails and enjoying the views or you can hike there for a day and brave the reservoir trails. If you are looking for a leisury walk, maybe a picnic and a fast return to the city, this is a good place to go. There are plenty of areas to sit in, benches to savour the views and surprises from the animal kingdom.

Many families come here for a short walk in the company of the monkeys. Three different kinds of these mammals live here – hence the name given to the hill. You can see whole families sitting in the trees or hear them playing in the bushes or jump from one tree to another. Although they should be treated with caution and as a wild animal, they are a treat to look at. And they do look back, which is both adorable and fascinating. We are after all, guests in their house.

How to get there?

The easiest way to find the place is to locate the Lai Chi Kok MTR station and then trace your finer north to the closest green space. There will be four reservoirs there, so you should spot it in no time. The road leading between two hills goes to the Monastery of 1000 Buddhas in Tai Wai district. But if you decide to stop in the middle, this is where a trail to Kam Shan Park would be starting.

You need to follow the road, so naturally, you will get there only by bus – and there are only 2 of them.

The stop you are looking for is the SHEK LEI PUI RESERVOIR.

Bus number 72 – goes from Cheung Sha Wan Rd. in the vicinity of the Lai Chi Kok MTR station. It follows the metro line, and you can also find a stop close to the Cheung Sha Wan or Sham Shui Po MTR stations.

A word of advice here should follow. The bus (usually a big double-decker) passes through some densely populated parts of the city. If you are unlucky you may be stuck in traffic before reaching the country park. It may be wise to walk a bit from Sham Shui Po MTR and enter the bus just before it turns and reaches the mountain road (Camp Street/Chau Street stop).

The travel time from Lai Chi Kok Station should be about 25 minutes in theory.

Bus number 81 – goes from Jordan, following Nathan Rd. Its first stop is close to Kowloon/Austin MTR stations, then it joins the main road and follows the red metro line. The good, last option to get on it is the Prince Edward MTR or Sham Shui Po MTR (close to Toy Street>) stations. From there the travel time should be about 20 minutes.

You can also take a taxi, from any spot in the city. For example, taking it from Prince Edward MTR will cost you about 50 HKD and the travel time would be around 15 minutes.

On your way back you need to find a bus stop on the opposite side of the road and follow the same principles. Just think of your plans after.

What to do there?

Depending on your objectives you can spend there 2-3 hours or the whole day. There are various possibilities starting with a simple walk and finishing with fishing or making a picnic.

Kam Shan is a wondrous place of azure lakes hidden in a jungle of thick trees and bushes. At the very beginning there is a bridge leading you to the main entravce throught the waters of the Kowloon Reservoir. No matter the weather the view is spectacular – you walk on a dam and a river below you is flowing down to a city, that both close and far away. On the other hand you have calm waters with sandy-red shores and green colour so deep that you could sink in it.

Normally, going from the bus stop, you will need to follow the road up, pass under a road bridge, and 2 minutes later turn left into the first true road. The reservoir would be clearly visible, you will not miss it. The panels on the fences will give you dos and don’ts of the area, focusing on the monkeys, since they can be dangerous sometimes. There will also be some maps, although the last one is still waiting for you.

Be careful taking the bridge of the reservoir. There is plenty of cars passing through, there are even taxis bringing people in. A place is quite popular, especially during a good weather. The road doesn’t have a proper pedestrian walk, so you are sharing it with the vechicles.

When this passage ends, you will see some parking spaces on your left, a map of the area and a road in front of you, inviting you to follow it.

Standing there, you have a decision to make. Which way to go?

The Tree Walk (1a) starts in this very spot. It goes left, to the Kowloon Reception Reservoir. It is easy – you go there and you return the same way. Everything will last from 1-1,5 hour.

Tree Walk Variations are more interesting and challenging. You can go around the reservoirs (1b). After finishing the designated trail, you follow another ones north – to the Shek Lei Pui Reservoir. You will go around it, join the road, which will lead you down to the spot you are in now. It will be around 1,5 – 2 hours.

Other variations can make you reach the Kwai Chung district (yellow path to Shek Lei, from the a walk to Kwai Hing MTR)! There are plenty of walkways to choose from. I recommend an app for that – Hong Kong Trails. It will prove quite helpful there in the “wilderness”. Apart from giving you the maps of the trails and the area it can also inform you that you’ve deviated from you path.

On the other hand, if you follow the road up, after a few minutes you will reach the Family Trail entrance. It takes you into the “jungle” on the right side of the road. The trail follows it, roughly, through ups and downs, and then they meet again further up. There and back should take you about 1 – 1,5 hour.

If you came here only for the monkeys – the fastest way to see them is to follow the road up for about 20 more minutes. There will be a huge picnic area on the left, usually shared with our furry cousins. From there you can go a little bit further up the road and return down with a Family trail which has its second end there (you should see a big crossroads/trails junction, with the signs leading you the right way – photo on the right).

Needles to say – if you follow the road to its end, and walk a short trail down you will find yourself in Shek Lei district (check the map below) – only a few steps form Kwai Hing MTR and the red metro line.

Meeting the local inhabitants

Regardless of the time of the year you are bound to see some monkeys. It is, after all, the Monkey Hill. The population varies, but the macaques are the most probable to be spotted. I suppose this is because they are as curious of you, as we are of them.

On our way there we had a pleasure to see a family hidden on a branch of a nearby tree. It was on a Family Trail. You could see instantly that this is no zoo experience. I even felt sorry for a mother holding tightly her little baby. The small thing was learning his balance until we approached, and then hid in mom’s arms.

I was brought up in the notion of “respect the nature and the nature will let you live in return” so I wasn’t keen on getting too close. But then – they were so cute! I really felt like observing their life for another hour.

But the small one was too afraid, so we let them be… So be wary of your surrounding, you never know when you can spot something interesting.

Soon a bigger surprise came. We took the easy Family Trail (nr 2 on the map, without the yellow extension). After an hour we found the road again and started to walk down, back to civilisation. We have passed many picnic areas on our way but this one surpassed our expectations. It was full of monkeys! They were walking around, picking up things to eat from the grass, playing on the branches, looking curiously at us. But mostly – we were ignored! I had plenty of time to observe them and make a lot of videos (all the places we saw monkeys are on the map).

We left the idyllic spot and continued on the road down. We managed to made an aquiantence of 3 youngsters plaing inside a lookout pavillon. We just wanted to make a picture… but we felt like being observed in this not comfortable way… We all belong to the monkey gene tree, so believe me… I felt that it is time to go! Humana vs. Macaqe… 0:1!

Kam Shan Park also showed us another animal. We must have been visiting the place in the blooming period… You cannot imagine the number of trees covered in butterflies. I have never seen such big groups of them. Their colours and variations were astounding. I suppose an expert would be thrilled! We had the same experience only by looking at a tree that seemed to move. The eerie beauty of this moment was something unforgettable. I hope, that you can experience the same phenomena.

All in all a visit to Kam Shan Park was surprisingly wonderful. It was a perfect short walk away from the house.

The views of the reservoir, the junge of the trees, the wildlife that you could almost touch…

But a few pointers are in order:

• Check the weather beforehand. We wanted to make our outdoor activity short and we came unprepared – sunscreen, water, hats… all forgotten.
• Take notice of the information about monkeys. They are wild animals and treat them as such. Never eat in their vicinity – they can steal your food and frighten you quite a bit
• If you are planning a longer trip take some food and drinks – there are no shops in the vicinity
• If you do not have an Octopus have some change for the bus driver – depending on your location it will be from 7 HKD to about 10 HKD
• The trails here are not difficult. They are short, but they do have some ups and downs. Those can be quite annoying – especially in a hot, damp weather