Taroko Gorge – 2025 Current Status (Post-Earthquake) 太魯閣地震後的狀況

2024 Hualien Earthquake

On 3 April 2024 at 7:58 AM, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit Hualien, killing 18 people and injuring over 1,000. Five people died directly from rockfalls. It was the strongest earthquake since 1999. Taroko Gorge experienced major landslides and rockfalls, blocking the roads and trails, and causing damage everywhere. Over six hundred people were stranded inside Taroko Park for several days before the road could be cleared.

Typhoon Gaemi (2024) and Typhoon Kong-Rey (2024)

Typhoons Gaemi and Kong-Rey were both category 4 Typhoons that hit the east coast near Hualien in 2024, also bringing torrential rains that washed away debris but also creating more landslides in the area. During Typhoon Kong-Rey, Hualien received over 1200mm (4 feet) of rain in one day.

Current Situation in Taroko Gorge and Taroko National Park

Taroko Gorge 2025 Update:

The road through Taroko Gorge up to Hehuanshan is open if you have your own vehicle, but only three times a day: 8 AM, 12 Noon, and 4 PM. You need to leave the park by 5:30 PM. There are many parts of the road that are just dirt or covered in potholes. Currently, only the Taroko National Park visitor’s center is open. But there are a few spots along the side of the road in Taroko Gorge where you can take photos. Again, all trails and everything else except the visitor center are closed. The Swallow Grotto Road and Eternal Spring Road are also blocked off.
Even Qingshui Cliff lookout is closed and there is nowhere to park there.
There is a lot of rock moving and reconstruction to do; it could take another 10 years for Taroko to fully reopen.

See above for the road opening schedule between Taroko and Hehuanshan, which was posted at the Taroko National Park visitor’s center.

Drove Footage:

360 Degree Panoramas

You can see a 360-degree panorama of Swallow Grotto above or here.

You can also see a 360-degree panorama above Jinheng Park above or here.

Our Journey:

We visited Taroko Gorge late in 2024 to see what it was like. Originally we planned on stopping at the Qingshui Cliffs on the way down from Yilan, but the whole parking lot is closed off due to a recent landslide. There is nowhere to park along the side of the road. Also, the whole area is covered in excavators and heavy equipment. Therefore, Qingshui Cliffs is effectively closed for now (both north and south parking areas).

On the drive down, I did notice a lot of the mountain faces were bare like this one. Due to the recent earthquake and subsequent Typhoons, many mountains have turned color from green to grey from so many landslides.

This was our first view as we crossed the Liwu River. The sign said:
Warning
The section between the Taroko Arch Gate and Tianxiang in Taroko National Park has been severely damaged by recent earthquakes and typhoons.
At present, the trails and scenic spots are currently closed. The risk of rockfalls, mudslides, and along Provincial Highway 8 remains high. If entry is necessary, please carefully assess the risks and ensure your safety.

Taroko National Park Visitor’s Center 太魯閣游客中心

When we visited, the road to Taroko Gorge was still closed. The only place that was open was the visitor’s center here.

In front of the visitor’s center is a sign with other fun places to visit around Taroko Gorge. Check out our blog with a list of other places to visit in Hualien besides Taroko Gorge here.

The Visitor’s Center was actually pretty great. I had never been inside before because usually I just drive straight into Taroko Gorge. There is a huge 3D map of the gorge here and really good exhibits about the geology, history, and ecology of the park.

There are lots of exhibits here and a large children’s play area, so you can spend a lot of time here.

Shakadang Trail  砂卡礑步道

At 4 PM, the road finally opened and we lined up to pass through the tunnel to Shakadang Trail.

Warning
The section between the Taroko Arch Gate and Tianxiang in Taroko National Park has been severely damaged by recent earthquakes and typhoons.
At present, the trails and scenic spots are currently closed. The risk of rockfalls, mudslides, and along Provincial Highway 8 remains high. If entry is necessary, please carefully assess the risks and ensure your safety.

From the bridge, you can see the Shakadang trail is covered in a landslide just past the first rock enclave.

Also, you can see one lion got its head chopped off and the fence here was damaged.

Driving further down the road, we noticed lots of small landslides like this and lots of potholes in the road.

There are also lots of sections of white cliffs here from recent rockfalls. As you can see from our blogs on previous trips, the walls of the gorge used to be a darker gray color.

Parts of the road are dirt and only one lane of traffic can pass at a time.

Buluowan Recreation Area 布洛灣遊悠區

This is the road up to Buluowan. It is almost unrecognizable. A landslide completely covered the road. I did not attempt to drive up this makeshift dirt road.

Another view of the rockslides near Buluowan.

Shanyue Suspension Bridge (山月吊橋)

From our car, we could see that Shanyue Suspension Bridge (山月吊橋) was still standing, but the bridge is off-limits due to damage.

Zhuilu Old Trail 錐麓古道

Zhuilu Old Trail is closed indefinitely.

Here you can see that during a recent typhoon, the water level reached up tot he road here and deposited some debris.

As you can see from my drone shot above, the suspension bridge along the Zhuilu trail here was broken. It may take many years to repair it.

Swallow Grotto 燕子口

Swallow Grotto is partially accessible on foot but is officially closed. You can see much of the area is still covered with debris and Jinheng Park is heavily damaged.

Another view of the area.

Another view looking toward Swallow Grotto.

Part of the road inside Swallow Grotto is totally full of debris.

View of the waterfall across from Swallow Grotto.

I also discovered this waterfall that only appears when it rains really hard.

Another view of the temporary underground waterfall.

Another view of a recent rockfall area along the wall.

Grand view of the gorge with lots of new rockfall areas.

This part of the gorge is especially damaged. You can see the driftwood and sand that got washed up from the river on the side of the road.

The destruction inside the gorge has made it beautiful, but at a very high cost.

You can see lots more rubble along the roadway here.

Liufang Lookout (​流芳橋觀景台)

Liufang lookout has seen better days. The wooden platform here was badly damaged.

The old bridge here got torn in half. The last time I visited in 2023, the whole bridge was still intact.

Not far from the lookout, there is a giant landslide, making the whole path a dirt road. We did not venture any further.

Another view of the gorge from near the lookout.

View of the gorge close to sunset.

Eternal Spring (Changchun) Shrine Trail 長春祠步道

The Eternal Spring trail is closed. Recently it also got washed by floodwaters. You can also see potholes on the road here from falling boulders.

The road is still drivable to the parking lot, but not beyond that. Parts of the road have been washed out and debris is still visible.

The old guard rail along the parking lot here has been washed away.

Only small sections of the guardrail remain.

Another view of the conditions.

I tried to drive out from the Eternal Spring, but there were too many rockfalls and I had to back out. You can see the road is covered in potholes from falling boulders here too. Many sections of the road are like this. If you drive on the road, take it slow because there are potholes everywhere, as well as boulders and sections of dirt roads.

More Photos

If you want to see more photos of this trip, check out our blog post here.

Don’t forget there are plenty of other places to check out in Hualien besides Taroko; check out our blog with a list of other places to visit in Hualien besides Taroko Gorge here.
If you are interested, you can also check out our blog to see what Taroko looked like before the earthquake here.

You can also check out our full guide to Taiwan here.