Qualla: Taroko National Park

Taroko National Park: Introduction

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The name comes from a people, not a place. "Taroko" derives from the Truku tribe, an indigenous group formally recognized by the Taiwanese government in 2004, who migrated centuries ago from the upper Zhuoshui River, crossing Mount Qilai into the Liwu River valley. In their language, the word evokes magnificence. It is an accurate description. Taroko National Park encompasses 92,000 hectares spanning Taichung, Nantou County, and Hualien County, anchored by a marble gorge that is one of only three on Earth carved entirely through pure marble -- alongside Bhedaghat Gorge in India and Trigrad Gorge in Bulgaria. Twenty-seven peaks within and around the park exceed 3,000 meters. The Central Cross-Island Highway threads through the gorge like a thread through a needle, ascending from tropical lowland forests to high-mountain pine and cedar stands in the span of an afternoon drive.

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Taroko National Park: Twice Born

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Taroko was first designated a national park on December 12, 1937, under the Japanese colonial Governor-General of Taiwan. When Japan surrendered in 1945 and the Republic of China assumed control of the island, the new government abolished the park. For 41 years, the gorge and its...

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Taroko National Park: Four Million Years in the Making

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Taiwan itself is a product of collision. About four million years ago, the Philippine Sea Plate slammed into the Eurasian Plate in what geologists call the Penglai Orogeny, thrusting up the Central Mountain Range that runs the length of the island. The tectonic plates have not st...

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Taroko National Park: Trails Through the Marble

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The park's sights unfold in a westward progression from the entrance. The Shakadang Trail follows a crystalline tributary river through sculpted rock. Swallow Grotto offers a trail carved into the cliff face where swifts nest in marble hollows. The Tunnel of Nine Turns, reopened ...

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Taroko National Park: Earthquake and Endurance

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On April 3, 2024, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Taiwan's eastern coast -- the strongest since the 1999 Jiji earthquake. Taroko National Park took the worst of it. Landslides obliterated sections of Provincial Highway No. 8, trapping hundreds of people in the gorge. Hikers wer...

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