Middle Dog Teeth Ridge – Mid Kau Nga Ling up Lantau Peak

The Middle Dog Teeth Ridge is part of Kau Nga Ling – aka Dog Teeth Ridge – is famed for its rugged peaks that’s like the razor teeth of a dog. It can be further split into the East, Middle, and West, of which the west is the most difficult.

The three trials then merged by the One Line of Survivability (一線生機) – where the trail dips along a one sided cliff to a narrow ridge. Then all three trails lead up to Tsam Chai Au where you can go up to Lantau Peak or take the easy route down to Ngong Ping.

Summary of Middle Dog Teeth Ridge hike (中狗牙）

Time taken: 3.5-4 hours

Difficulties: ⅘ – it’s not very long but it is very steep and exposed 

Pros: a beautiful hike up with great views, and not as difficult as West Dog Teeth

Cons: a very exposed hike with many many uphill stretches

In truth – I think it’s actually easier than going to and from Ngong Ping up Lantau Peak on my other post! But a lot more uphill with less variety in sights.

Getting to Middle Dog Teeth Ridge trail start 

Get to Tung Chung and take the bus 11A, 11, or 23 and get off at Shek Pik Police Stand stop. Sometimes the bus doesn’t have an announcement so make sure to keep a map open and get off before the reservoir.

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From the stop stick to the side further from the sea and walk back towards the way the bus came. This’ll take you to a pavilion. Walk along it and across the catch water over the bridge is the trail start.

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If you want to go to East Dog Teeth Ridge, continue along the catchwater until you see the next trail branching off to the left.

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This part of the trail involves some steep stairs up, but then it eventually becomes a nice, shaded even trail – enjoy this!

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Watch out for the first junction where a trail ever off to the right with a red warning sign. That’s the start for Middle Dog Teeth Ridge.

If you carry on instead, it’ll take you to West Dog Teeth Ridge.

Middle Dog Teeth Ridge

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The trail then goes steeply up, emerging from the vegetation quite quickly. You can already see a decent view of the reservoir early on as you climb.

As the name suggested, there are numerous peaks to conquer. I actually think before we reach the first peak is the toughest ascend because of how slippery and narrow the trail is.

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The first peak is marked by a black and white pillar and a spectacular view of the southern side of Lantau Island.

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You can also see both the West and East Dog Teeth Ridge clearly, too, as well as the Lantau Peak.

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It then dips down and up another peak where it joins with East Dog Teeth Ridge, which has beautiful rounded hills.

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Then it’s a long way – first flatter, then very steep – up to the hill that leads to the One Line of Survivability. 

One Line of Survivability (一線生機)

From the cliff there’s a narrow way that’s about 10m long going down steeply with a cliff to the right and solid rock wall to the left (going down). And that’s the One Line of Survivability. It sounds a lot better in Chinese…

It is honestly not as scary as its name suggests, although still a dangerous section since the drop to the right is a long drop. There is a chain you can use for support along the cliff, which is installed well.

Once you cross down to the ridge, which is three people wide, there’s no need to go on top of the mountain, just carry on along the path to the right which leads up to Tsam Chai Au.

Going up to Tsam Chai Au

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The initial stretch from One Line of Survivability is quite flat, but this leads to the longest continuous stretch of uphill climb.

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The hill, though steep and long, has bigish rock outcrops that are more friendly to step on.

Some also make good photospot with a view of the One Line of Survivability.

Once you’re on the top of the hill, it’s a much more gentle climb up to Tsam Chai Au with the view of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge and Ngong Ping.

We also pass by the Bird Rock before reaching Tsam Chai Au.

Tsam Chai Au to Wisdom Path

You can also hike up to Lantau Peak from here, otherwise it’s exactly the same as the Ngong Ping-Lantau Peak route I wrote about.

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This is the Lantau Trail and well paved. If you feel like running down, it’s actually only about 15-20 minutes!

Ngong Ping getting out

From Ngong Ping, either take the cable car which is a half hour ride to Tung Chung, or the bus 23 by Ngong Ping Village that takes 40-50 minutes back to Tung Chung.