A few million years ago, as the Philippines tectonic plate moved northwest, it slammed into the coast of Taiwan and squeezed the island upward. Thanks to that long-ago event, modern Taiwan is full of high mountains. Other island countries in Asia feature mountains, but these tend to be scattered volcanoes rather than long chains of peaks. Taiwan, on the other hand, has a true alpine range – the Central Mountain Range – which runs almost the entire north-south length of the island before it finally reaches the sea at Kenting. Geological history has provided Taiwan with a rare and beautiful gift – one that happens to be a wonderful boon to tourism.

People looking for natural beauty, calming views, and the feeling of self-reliance that comes with pitching a tent, cooking dinner, and sleeping under the skies at 3,000 meters will find that Taiwan can provide all these in abundance. And fortunately, gaining access to the mountains of Taiwan is much easier than it was just a few years ago, when mountain permits and guides were required. Today, NT$10 buys you a police permit, and that’s the whole process.

Generally speaking, there are three ways to enjoy the mountains, ranging from quite easy to quite hard. The easiest method is from the seat of a vehicle: a car, bus, or train. Taiwan’s cross-island highways provide fine views of the sunlit peaks and alpine parklands that dominate the island’s high elevations.

Both the central and southern cross-island highways deliver excellent views. The southern cross-island highway passes briefly through Yushan National Park, and it provides remarkable panoramas. The central highway plunges straight through the heart of Taroko Gorge National Park. It also goes very near the summit of Hehuanshan after crossing a broad, nearly treeless meadow that allows sweeping vistas of the mountains to the south.

Another easy but worthwhile “sit-down” option is the Alishan Forest Railway, which starts in Chiayi and finishes on the slopes of Ali- shan at an elevation of 2,450 meters. The train churns upward for four hours through several different climate zones. As it nears the Ali- shan Forest Recreation Area, the trees thin out and the mountain views become steadily more dramatic. The best views can be seen on the pre-dawn train where visitors can gaze on the “sea of clouds” below and the high mountains above – including the unforgettable pinnacle of Jade Mountain, the highest peak in Taiwan.

The second (and slightly more difficult) option for seeing Taiwan’s mountains is to take a day hike. For those who pursue this option, especially Taipei residents, Yangmingshan beckons. Strictly speaking, this volcanic peak isn’t part of the Central Mountain Range, but it does provide good views and good exercise as well. The best hike is Chisingshan (Seven Star Mountain), which runs upward through wet forests of oak, persimmon, maple, and bamboo, before emerging onto a mountaintop clearing. From here, the high mountains far to the south are visible.

Another good day hike is at the southern end of Taiwan, in Kenting National Park. There, one will find Dajianshrshan (Big Sharp Peak), a rocky spire that is visible from much of the coast. This peak is the southern bookend to Yangmingshan. It is a tough two-hour hike, and though it is not quite the high mountains, it provides fine views and good exercise nonetheless.

Some day walks do pierce the high mountains, with several of these to be found in Taroko Gorge. The most famous is the Baiyang Falls trail, a flat, easy walk that traverses some of the park’s finest scenery and finishes at a spectacular waterfall that pours from the mountaintops and pulsates in the sun. Another fine high-mountain walk, a few kilometers further up the main road from the Baiyang Falls trailhead, is the trail to Meiyuan and Jutsuen, a pair of orchard villages. The gentle, eight-kilometer hike to Jutsuen is a microcosm of the high mountains, with its swaying but safe suspension bridges, fast and clear mountain rivers, broad green meadows, and the constant dramatic accompaniment of the surrounding high peaks.

The third option for seeing the high mountains, of course, is to pack a tent and a sleeping bag, shoulder a backpack, load up on some light but filling food, and venture into the very heart of the Central Mountain Range. The most famous destination for this sort of excursion is Jade Mountain, or Yushan. As the tallest peak in Taiwan, Yushan is also the most popular climbing destination in the country.

The hike is not particularly hard. The most commonly used trail, Tataka, begins with a nine-kilometer walk that starts at 2,610 meters and heads uphill from there, getting steadily steeper as it nears Paiyun Hostel (at an elevation of 3,530 meters). The trail traverses a valley that gets narrower and more rugged as it gains elevation. Finally one arrives in an amphitheater of mountains that form the satellite peaks of Yushan.

After a night in the Paiyun Hostel, it is two more hours to the top of Jade Mountain. The summit is the culmination of the geological forces that pushed the mountains skyward and it provides, without question, one of the most iconic and loveliest views that the island can offer. There are two ways down: a return to Tataka, or a longer but equally scenic walk through Batungguan meadow and on down to Dongpu.

One of the most pleasant aspects of the Yushan hike is that it offers so many wide-open views. Some high-mountain hikes – like Dabajianshan, for instance, in Shei-pa National Park – require hours of slogging through deep, dark forests before one emerges into alpine parklands above the treeline.

Having said that, Dabajianshan makes a fantastic hike. It is very lightly visited, and once the trail does clear the treeline, the lucky hiker enters a sunlit land of grassy meadows, flowering plants, towering peaks, and one-of-a-kind views. The trail heads straight toward the peak, a towering spire of rock framed against the aqua-blue high-mountain skies. Scaling the summit itself is for experts only. But just standing near the top of Dabajianshan, one is surrounded by breathtaking wilderness, a landscape that is absolutely pristine and very seldom visited.

The same can be said of Chilai Ridge, which, unlike Dabajianshan or Jade Mountain (both of which are up-and-down summit hikes), takes a north-south route atop the central range over the very backbone of the island. The ridge delivers the finest views of any mountain hike in Taiwan and indeed rivals any trek on earth. But it does exact a price. The ridge is composed of crumbly layers of shale and sandstone, and traversing it requires the cautious use of ropes and ladders. But the payoff is truly spectacular. Jade Mountain is visible far to the south, and so is Dabajianshan in the north. Indeed, all of them are on display – Syueshan, Hehuanshan, Nenggaushan, and the rest – the towering, spectacular mountains that provide some of the best reasons to see Taiwan.