Peak Circle Walk

This is one of my favorite hiking trails in HK which I almost religiously do at least 1 – 2 times a week (or more if I’ve got a new phone/​camera where I want to test out the camera).
My big selling point is that it’s closeby — either from the steep Old Peak Road — handy if you’re staying in the Mid-​Levels /​SOHO /​Central area, or from the north part of HKU. And saves in gym memberships.
And the many opportunities there is to practice my photography skills, especially along Lugard Road about 10 – 15 mins in, and Hatton Road (the trail down to HKU). See
for a shot I did very recently with my new iPhone 6S.
And the best part about this trail is that there is much less people. Sometimes you may see photographers camping out before sunset (haven’t tried sunrise, too early or hard to get up there after a night at LKF ;)), but it’s definitely much less crowded than Lion’s Pavilion.

This is a great walk that takes roughly 90 minutes. All of the post cards of the city are taken from this trail. On weekends it can be quite congested, so do not expect a quiet walk!
If you go up after dark you will often observe porcupine on the trail. It’s great to see some wildlife in Hong Kong. (But leave the poor guys alone!)

The Circle Walk on the Peak, largely consists of Lugard Road and Harlech Road, used to be one of the best retreat trails in Hong Kong. Perfect view, to say the least.
It was recently overwhelmed by tourists, and by tourists, you know I mean Mainland Chinese tourists. Nothing wrong with that, really, but sometimes there are just way too many of them, and there’s nothing our government can do about it. If you come here on a Sunday afternoon, be prepared it will be as busy as anywhere in HK you can expect.
Now only until this morning I found the perfect time for this trail — before 6:30am, and wait for the sunrise. Yes it means it requires some effort to wake up early to walk up from either HKU or Kennedy Road, but that’s one of the best things you can do in Hong Kong. You can fight for your spot for photograph at the Lion’s Pavilion, or you can enjoy as long as you like here, if you start from the Lugard Road side and just past the 10mins mark. The view is better and wider too, in my opinion.
On a good day, which sometimes is a luck-​dependent thing in Hong Kong nowadays, you can see as far as Tsing Ma Bridge and Tai Mo Shan. Panoramic photograph shots are a must, and I can again reassure you that it is definitely worth your time waking up early.

I have come here ever since I was little almost 30 years ago. Every year we come back, we would start off our morning by taking a walk around the Peak Circle Walk. Not only is this a great place to get some exercise, but it’s beautiful with all the lush green foliage and the beautiful scenery at the top. On and off I will decide to go for a run as many other people do. About at the half way point there’s a resting stop with restrooms that many of the younger and older individuals take advantage of. Often times they will have little ice cream/​drink stands for those people needing a little refreshment.
About halfway up you’ll see a giant fig tree with its roots dangling from the very top branches and making their way down to the ground forming new trees. I remember when this tree was much younger without all these roots and now it has matured like I have and has made for a cool measurement of how the years have gone by for me. As you walk a little further you’ll get to the scenic point looking over the entire Hong Kong harbor. This is where you’ll want to take a picture. The air is generally clear and you can see all the famous buildings that make up the Hong Kong skyline.
It takes about 45 min of brisk walking to do the whole mountain and it has ups and downs that not all older people are able to do. However, it is famous for the «New Years walk» where you walk around the mountain once for good luck for the new year. Yes, people live here so you’ll actually encounter cars on the narrow walkway. Be careful!