Kaohsiung Shoushan and Chai Shan Military Restricted Area Perimeter: A Complete Guide to Harbor City Trail Running Routes

Kaohsiung’s Only Mountain Running Home

Kaohsiung’s terrain is flat, with very few places to practice climbing. Shoushan (Chaishan) is almost the only mountain running venue for Kaohsiung runners. It is a coral reef limestone mountain, with a core trail network of about 8 km and a cumulative elevation gain of about 350 m. Some areas are under military control, so only the open routes are accessible.

Main Routes

Macaques and Limestone Terrain

Shoushan is home to many Formosan macaques. When running, never carry plastic bags or expose food, or it may be snatched. Some limestone trails are slippery and have sharp coral rocks. It is recommended to wear trail shoes with good grip and avoid thin-soled road shoes.

Hill Repeat Workout Design (Shoushan Edition)

For Kaohsiung runners who mostly train on flat ground, the greatest value of Shoushan is “squeezing the only 350 m of elevation gain to the limit.” Suggested hill repeat workouts:

Key execution points: push hard on the uphill, and be sure to slow down and control the downhill as recovery (the limestone is slippery, and the downhill is where sprained ankles and falls most often happen). Walk or jog down to the start between reps as rest, which naturally forms an interval structure. Schedule 1 to 2 sessions per week, combined with flat long runs, to make up for the “vertical training” that Kaohsiung runners lack most.

Time-of-Day Recommendations

Kaohsiung has intense sunshine. Although the shade on Shoushan provides some cover, it is still strongly recommended to complete the workout between 5 and 7 a.m., for three reasons: first, to avoid the high heat of southern Taiwan (temperatures climb rapidly within an hour after sunrise); second, macaques are less active in the early morning, lowering the chance of food snatching or confrontation; third, the Zoo route and Longquan Temple route get crowded with runners and hikers on weekends, and starting too late will disrupt your interval rhythm. After rain, the limestone rocks are extremely slippery, so slow down significantly on descents—this is the most common cause of slip-and-fall injuries on Shoushan.

Supplies

There are shops and water fountains near the trailheads to refill water. Once on the trails, there is almost no supply point, so be sure to carry at least 500 ml of water; during summer heat, interval workouts cause heavy sweating, so it is recommended to also bring a small pack of electrolyte replacement.

Kaohsiung has no big mountains, but it has Shoushan. It reminds us: training conditions are never determined by the environment, but by whether you are willing to push the only small mountain you have to its limit.

Related Reading

• Kaohsiung Shoushan and Chaishan Cycling Routes: A Hill Training Paradise on the Urban Fringe
• The Complete Guide to Shoushan Loop Routes in Kaohsiung: An Analysis of Rolling Loop Routes for Training
• Kaohsiung Shoushan to Cijin: A Versatile Training Route on the Urban Fringe
• Cycling Route No. 1 Southern Section: Crossing the Mountains on the South Link Highway from Fenggang to Taitung