Beyond Meinong and Qishan, Kaohsiung runs up into the mountains: the hot spring towns of Baolai and Bulao in Liugui, Jiasian and its taro, and Namasia, where fireflies fill the valleys in spring. It's a long way by bus, so give it a night if you can, and go in settled weather: mountain roads close before typhoons and heavy rain.
- Bus E25 Kaohsiung to Liugui via Zuoying HSR and Qishan, about 2.5 h; H11 on to Baolai
- Soak Baolai's public hot spring park, or lodges in Bulao
- Season Fireflies in Namasia, late March to early May
- Closed Tengjhih forest and the Jiasian Fossil Museum
Baolai and Bulao hot springs
Baolai Flower Park and Hot Springs (寶來花賞溫泉公園) is a public hot spring park behind Baolai Junior High School, with a clear, odourless bicarbonate spring up to 52°C and 1,370 flowering trees. Typhoon Morakot damaged Baolai's springs in 2009; a new well was drilled in 2017.
- Hours Reduced days while facilities are renovated: Friday to Monday 10:00 to 21:00, closed Tuesday to Thursday (check before you go)
- Entry Pools NT$300 weekdays, NT$350 weekends; foot bath NT$100 / NT$150
Bulao Hot Spring (不老溫泉), up a side valley in Xinfa village, has a weakly alkaline spring at 40 to 50°C all year. There's no public bath: you soak at the hot spring lodges, each with its own hours. It won Best Value in Taiwan's 2020 to 2021 Golden Spring Awards.
Good to know: stay out of the wild springs and riverbeds, especially after rain. The forest road to the wild springs needs a police permit, and there's no phone signal in the Baolai riverbed.
Liugui
Eighteen Arhats Mountain (十八羅漢山), the "Little Guilin" of more than 40 peaks between two rivers, has a visitor centre (weekdays 09:00 to 17:00, weekends 08:00 to 17:00). The old camphor-logging tunnels through it lie in a nature reserve that you can only enter with a guide, booked online at least five days ahead. In season, rafting runs 12 km down the Laonong River, with lifeguards on every trip.
Jiasian
Jiasian (甲仙), where the Southern Cross-Island Highway begins, is known for taro: taro pastries, taro ice and taro ice cream. Its Taro and Bamboo Shoot Festival is held each year just before Mid-Autumn (in 2026, on 19 September). The Jiasian Fossil Museum has been closed for renovation since November 2023.
Namasia's fireflies
Namasia (那瑪夏), home to the Kanakanavu and Bunun peoples, holds a firefly season each spring, with more than 15 species. In 2026 it ran from 27 March to 3 May: an NT$200 ticket (including an NT$50 voucher for local shops) opened five firefly trails, and the district office ran shuttle tours. Peaches are in season at the same time.
The Southern Cross-Island Highway
Highway 20, the Southern Cross-Island Highway, reopened in May 2022 after 13 years closed by Typhoon Morakot. Its mountain section from Meishankou to Xiangyang is under standing traffic control: since December 2025 it's closed Tuesday to Thursday, open Friday to Monday with entry from 07:00 to 14:00, and you must be off the section by 17:00. It closes ahead of typhoons and heavy rain; check the Highway Bureau's 168 road-status site (168.thb.gov.tw) or its app before you drive.
Good to know: Tengjhih National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan District is closed while its typhoon-damaged access road is repaired, with no reopening date.
Getting there by bus
- Liugui: Kaohsiung Bus E25 runs about hourly from Kaohsiung (via Zuoying HSR, Qishan and Meinong), 06:20 to 20:20; about 2.5 hours, or 2 hours from the HSR.
- Baolai: change at Liugui to the H11 local bus, four a day, about 45 minutes.
- Bulao: H11 from Qishan, two a day on weekdays and three at weekends, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Jiasian: Kaohsiung Bus E32, hourly from Kaohsiung via Qishan, about 2 hours 10 minutes. Bus H21 runs on to Namasia, about 70 minutes.
→ Meinong and Qishan, on the way · More day trips
Sources: Kaohsiung Travel (Baolai park, Bulao, Golden Spring Awards, Eighteen Arhats, Fossil Museum, fireflies, taro festival); the city's Takao magazine on the tunnels and rafting; wild springs: Taipei Times; Tengjhih: Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency; Highway 20: Focus Taiwan and UDN; buses: Kaohsiung Bus E25, H11, E32. Checked October 2026.