This is a non-strenuous 10km through-hike that begins at Mui Wo ferry pier on Lantau Island and takes you along the ridgeline to Discovery Bay. This hike has a very relaxed kinda feel to it. After the initial incline behind Mui Wo, the trail gradually plateaus as you reach the rock formation known as 'Tiger's Head', which looks down over Discovery Bay. Reaching Tiger's Head for sunset should be the goal for this hike as the views from the top are stunning.
Hike Location: Lantau Island, Mui Wo Ferry Pier
Hike Difficulty: Easy - Moderate (4/10)
Hike Length: 4 hours
High Distance: 10km
Elevation Gain: ~500m
The easiest way to reach Mui Wo Ferry Pier is by catching a ferry from central piers on Hong Kong Island. Once you arrive at Mui Wo you want to head towards the main beach by passing the countless parked bicycles and small stalls (photo 1).
Once the beach is in sight, cross the bridge in photo 4 and the take the first left after the Silvermine Beach Resort. Then turn right at the toilet blocks (photo 7) and continue straight.
The path will take you past an ancient-looking tree that has clearly outgrown someone's effort to build a house.
You'll soon reach an intersection with the Hong Kong Olympic Trail (photo 11). Take a right after the steps and continue along the trail. At some point you'll pass the Silvermine Waterfall. This waterfall is nothing spectacular but makes for a nice addition to the hike.
Take the right fork at photo 12 and head towards the old village houses with the papaya trees out the front. By this point you should have a clearer view of Lantau Peak.
Stick to the trail and you'll eventually reach another intersection, but this time with the Lo Fu Tau Country Trail. This trail will lead you to the Tiger's Head rock formation, which takes another hour or so.
En route you'll come across large rocks that make for great climbing with views of Lantau Island in all directions. Remember to turn around once in a while as Lantau Peak grows taller behind you. Clear skies or clouds, Lantau Peak always appears very dramatic and enticing.
Soon you'll reach the trigonometric point above Discovery Bay before descending down the Tiger's Head. This is where the scenery is best. I'd suggest reaching this point for sunset so you can watch the sky transform as the colours blend together.
Begin the descent whilst there's a little light left as there is one short scrambling section down (photo 28). It's very straight forward and we managed it during a last minute thunder shower, however, there is another more obvious path to the left of the scrambling section if you're having doubts.
Once you rejoin the clay-orange trail, follow it down, passing through some thick vegetation at the bottom until it spits you out onto a road.
Follow the road left until you reach a pavilion. This is where we had our pre-cooled ciders and watched the seascape change from dusk to darkness whilst the ships and tower blocks turned their lights on.
Pass through the pavilion and continue along the trail until you reach the concrete steps down to Discovery Bay. I'd suggest bringing a torch for this very last section.
Enjoy the hike! There are numerous restaurants and bars right next to the ferry pier where you can easily grab a beer if you have to wait for the next ferry.
See the route I took on the MAP below (green dot is the starting point) and download the KML file to see the route in Google Earth 3D. Watch my KML tutorials for downloading the map on both laptop and mobile.
Below is a screenshot from the Google Earth KML file.
