Tsing Tam Reservoir and Ho Pui Reservoir: an easy hike

Tsing Tam Reservoir is one of the lesser known reservoirs in Hong Kong. Hidden between Tai Po and Yuen Long, it’s a flat and easy walk along a concrete trail that has a wonderful view of Kai Kung Leng with a possible side trip to Ho Pui Reservoir.

Although it’s an easy trail, it is also long and takes 3 hours or so to complete. If you’re looking for a good path to hike with the whole family or just looking to chat and walk, this is the trail for you!

Summary of Tsing Tam Reservoir hike

Difficulty: 1.5/5 – the .5 is for the length and getting there

Time taken: 3 hours, but budget more time to get in and out

Pros: an easy trail suitable for the family and strollers. It also takes you past an eco garden and an organic farm. Also a glorious view of Kai Kung Leng across the valley.

Cons: getting in and out via public transport does take a while. Concrete trail is nice to walk on but can get a little monotonous.

How to get to Tsing Tam Reservoir trail start

The trail can be done in either direction, but we opt to start at the more complicated end: Tai Po.

From Tai Po Market MTR take the bus 64K to sheung tsuen playground.

From the bus stop, go left and follow this side of the road onto Route Twisk.

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Carry on past the Shek Kong until you reach a minibus stop. Do note that Shek Kong is a military/police area so you’ll encounter army officers in uniform on patrol or standing guard. Don’t photograph them.

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Note: if bus 51 go pass where you live/is near you, you can take it to get here

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Turn right onto the road here. Watch out for cars as this is a narrow one way road. Follow it across the bridge and all the way down. The path goes parallel to the waterway and it’s very hard to get lost.

Tsing Tam Reservoir hike

Farm Milk Company

Before the trail officially begins, aka when the cars (without permit) are still able to go down the entire road, you’ll find the Farm Milk Company. They run a cafe as well, however, that is currently (Oct 2020) closed due to COVID. But you can still buy paper cartons of their milk – which are whole milk with no fat reduction.

Note: do the hike in reverse if you want to bring the milk home as this is a 3ish hour hike.

After the Farm Milk Company, you’ll encounter the last public bathroom is by the BBQ site 3. 

Eco Garden

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A short walk later is a small Eco Garden. It’s left of the path if you are going towards Yuen Long and easy to spot since it has a huge sign. There are plenty of flowers and butterflies to spot perfect for photographers.

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It’s not very big with informative signs on the floral and fauna you can find there.

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From here, it’s a longish trek to the reservoirs as they are close to Yuen Long. Watch out for glimpses of Kai Kung Leng here to your right!

Tsing Tam Upper Reservoir

The Tsing Tam Reservoir is split into upper and lower, and upper is the larger of the time. Both of them were built in the 60s when the nearby river was diverted to Tai Tam Reservoir, meaning the farmers and villages nearby lost their water source.

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The trail goes straight to the bridge across the reservoir. It’s not a big reservoir, but the view is nice and you can fly your drone out to catch the big dam and the cascading waterfall.

Note: you need a fishing permit to fish in the reservoir

Tsing Tam Lower Reservoir

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The lower reservoir is easily missed if you don’t look for it. Once you go down the ramp, watch out for the small trail that leads to the bridge to the lower reservoir. You can’t see the big dam of the upper reservoir that well, but it has a good view of Yuen Long and a little waterfall.

Get back on the main trail and you’ll reach the Shek Kong Barbecue Site 12. If you continue on, it’ll take you out to the Ho Pui Village.

But if you are not tired yet, take the trail that goes left to take a side trip to the Ho Pui Reservoir.

HKFYG Organic Farm

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The trail to the reservoir takes you past the HKFYG Organic Farm first. There is a cafe as well.

You are free to look around the farm and we even saw a cute little turtle. There is also a restroom you can use and I think they used to sell produce.

Ho Pui Reservoir

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Continue up the winding road and eventually it’ll end at a roundabout with a barbecue site. Ho Pui Reservoir was built at the same time as the Tsing Tam Reservoir for the same purpose.

You can hike all the way around the reservoir, but the trail doesn’t always have a view of the reservoir itself. So if you are tired or don’t want to do the whole circuit, go left onto the bridge which is the most scenic part.

It’s actually the prettiest part of the Ho Pui Reservoir, so I highly recommend going here if you are not too tired!

Ho Pui Village

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Head back out to the junction and turn left to carry on the path that will take you out to the village. Once you get to the village, follow the no cycling sign and it’ll take you to the square where the minibus stop is.

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There is only one minibus and it goes to Kam Sui Road station, then to Yuen Long town center.