Thousand Islands: Reservoir Island viewpoint in Tai Lam Country Park

The Reservoir Island Viewpoint is the window to the famed thousand islands view of Hong Kong. It overlooks the Tai Lam Chung Reservoir and its many islands, and the easy hike from the Tai Lam Country Park made it ever so popular. Located between Yuen Long and Tuen Mun, the trail is part of MacLehose Trail Stage 10 and does take a little time to reach. During late November to early January, you can also combine the hike with Tai Tong to see the red leaves.

Summary of Reservoir Island Viewpoint in Tai Lam Country Park

Time taken: 2-3 hours

Difficulty: 2/5

Pros: a beautiful and relatively short hike that’s not very taxing. You can combine red leaves and lake view in one too in fall!

Cons: a quite popular trail and potentially lengthy commute to get to and from

How to get to Tai Lam Country Park (Tai Tong)

You can start from either Yuen Long or Tuen Mun, I prefer to start at Yuen Long since it is generally harder to get out of there.

Bus: K66 goes to Tai Tong and goes past both the Long Ping Station and Fung Nin Road Light Rail station. It stops at 

From the end stop, it’s a 20 minutes walk to the Country Park:

There is also a car park right by the entrance that’s free to use, although you might want to arrive early to snatch a spot. We drove there and arrived at 9am on a weekday and there were still a few spots left.

Here is the location of the car park. It’s basically on the right of the block on the end of the road. Or you can just google Tai Tong Shan Road Car Park.

Tai Lam Country Park trail start

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You can easily follow the main tarmac road from the country park entrance, as there is no branch off for the first half an hour. There are signposts, too, in case you need reassurance.

First, follow the sign to Sweet Gum Tree Woods until you reach a triple junction.

This is where the MacLehose Trail Stage 10 starts, with the Sweet Gum Woods to the left and the trail to Reservoir Island Viewpoint to the right.

Reservoir Island Viewpoint along MacLehose Trail Stage 10

From the junction where you can turn right to go to the Sweet Gum Woods, you can turn left to go to the Reservoir Island Viewpoint, which is also part of the MacLehose Trail Stage 10.

The Reservoir Island Viewpoint refers to the view of Tai Lam Reservoir, and the numerous islands in the reservoir has earned it the name of ‘Hong Kong Thousand Islands Lake’.

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Personally, I think Tai Tun Shan is a better candidate for that, or even the Plover Cove Reservoir Country Trail, but the Reservoir Island Viewpoint is a lot easier to reach.

The journey from the junction only takes around 40 minutes. The initial stretch is still on tarmac road, passing a branch off that can take you down to the reservoir.

At the end of the paved road is a flight of stairs, but there are relatively long stretches of trail that are flat for you to catch your breath.

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The terrain is relatively loose and gravelly, so good shoes are recommended!

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About half way there is a Kwan Tai Temple with the famous red horse statue, please be respectful and don’t climb on it.

That was the only downhill part of the trek up.

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Then you’ll pass under a transformer, get a good view of Yuen Long and across the river to Shenzhen as well.

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Resevoir Island Viewpoint

The Reservoir Island Viewpoint is marked by a sign that’s beautifully painted, and then it’s up the stairs.

You won’t immediately reach the viewpoint, but the trail turns right giving you a splendid view of the whole Tai Tam Reservoir.

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You can even take a break at one of the many benches that are scattered there!

The viewpoint is at the very end and overlooks the Tai Lam Chung Reservoir. The sandy grainy terrain is quite slippery so watch your footing.

There is rock platform just below that you can go down for photo.

This is a dead end so one you’ve finished, make your way back out!

Getting out of Tai Lam Country Park

To exit the viewpoint, you’ve to go back down to where the painted sign is.

You can then continue out on MacLehose Trail Stage 10, which takes you to So Kwun Wat San Tsuen where you can take the minibus 43 to Tuen Mun West Rail Station.

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Note: since we drove there, we turn back and it took us just over an hour to get back to the car park!