Maolin National Scenic Area

The Maolin Eco Park is tucked away in Maolin Alley in Maolin District. It is where the Butterfly Sighting Festival is held. The park features a butterfly-sighting trail, which can be accessed by the passage in the park. The park is known for the so-called Hidden Valley of Purple Crow Butterflies. The term refers not to a physical place but large swarms of purple crow butterflies migrating in winter.

Maolin’s purple crow butterfly swarms, together with the Monarch butterfly swarms in Canada, are identified as the two largest butterfly migration events in the world, and the two are viewed as world-class natural assets.

The Duonagao Suspension Bridge is located in the Longtou Mountain between Wanshan and Duona, spanning the Zhuokou River. It is 232 meters in length and 103 meters in height; it is said to be the tallest suspension bridge in Southeast Asia.

Longtou Mountain (Longtoushan) can be found near the 12km mark of Kaohsiung County Highway No. 132 in Maolin. It covers an area of about 22 hectares and is surrounded by mountains on three sides. Longtoushan, literally Dragon Head Mountain in English, features a rare landform shaped by a river flowing through the region to resemble the shape of a humongous dragon lying on the ground, with the mountain range as its spine. Over time, the river sculpted the mountain and eventually cut it in half, making it look like a dragon spewing out pearls from afar and winning it a nickname “pearl-spewing dragon.” The mountain is also known as the ‘Eagle Valley’ for a large eagle population occupying its cliffs and valleys.