Silver Mountain to the Mines

A combination of our Silver Pagodas and Mines and Pines hiking trails, with a long and steep stair climb to exercise your legs.

Level 4

Approx. 4 hours start to finish over 12km. (Can I do it?)

This hike is not currently scheduled

Contact us for schedule updates or set up a private hike

This hike is a combination of our Silver Pagodas and Mines and Pines hiking trails—two Level 3 hikes that we’re putting together to make a Level 4, a good chance to see some of the spots we visit on the shorter, more scenic hikes we do.

We begin at a small village that regulars will recognise as the midpoint of other longer hikes, but we’ll head in a different direction, following a paved trail in and out of valleys and up and down steps to arrive at the site of the Silver Pagodas.

Religious use of the site of the Silver Pagodas dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), with the pagodas built in the 1400’s. The silver bells of the pagodas used to ring in the breeze, and are the source of the name of this peaceful spot. The temples are long gone, burned during war.

After a quick look about the pagodas, we’ll start on the big climb up the stairs to the lookout point up on the peak of Silver Mountain.

It’s a pretty big climb but the views from the top are worth it, and there’s also a little side trail on the way up that leads to a big bell which you can ring for good luck.

From the peak we’ll come back down a short way before stepping off the stairs and on to the narrow path that leads down the back side of the mountain - steep in places, and possibly slippery.

The path down the back of the mountain takes us to the fields that surround Longevity Village. We’ll walk through the fields, and then into the village.

On the east side of the village is our old Mines and Pines trail, an old favourite.

After following field trails through chestnut orchards, we start climbing up into the hills, following a narrow trail up and over several ridges and through the hills to the south of the Silver Pagodas.
We’ll be able to see the mountain we climbed earlier in the day, and we might be able to hear others ringing the big bell.

Coming across the side of the hill we’ll start to see pine trees, and will soon start down a winding dirt trail through the pines, passing closed-off mine passages and the piles of mine tailings from previous digs. The trail flattens out and turns into a gravel road that takes us out to the main road, where we’ll finish the hike.

What to bring on this hike

• Lunch and snacks to eat
• Sun protection: long-sleeved shirt, hat
• A bottle of sports drink with salt content (Gatorade, Pocari Sweat)
• Rain jacket or poncho just in case
• Good hiking boots
• (Click here to read our full What to Bring on a Hike list)

Reasons you might not enjoy this hike

• Parts of the hike go through areas that are not commonly walked, and the trail can get bushy and scratchy, especially in summer.
• If you’ve done our Silver Pagoda Loop, Mines and Pines Hike, or Version 2 of our Longevity Village to the Ming Tombs hike you’ll have done most of this hike already.