- Beitou Hot Springs
- Beitou + Yangmingshan
Verified August 2026
Beitou and Yangmingshan, the volcano and its plumbing
Everything you soak in down in the village comes out of the mountain above it. Yangmingshan is where you can stand next to the fumaroles that heat the water — and where there is a free public bath most visitors never hear about.
The short answer
Park entry is free. Lengshuikeng has a free public hot spring bath, open 09:00–16:30 every day including Mondays. The catch is transport: from Beitou you need a bus, and doing the whole mountain on public transport means several legs and a lot of waiting.
Lengshuikeng · 01 — the free bath nobody mentions
A public hot spring bath on the mountain that costs nothing
While Beitou's cheap public pool sits behind hoarding, there is a free one twenty minutes up the mountain that has been running since 1911 and opens seven days a week.
| What | Answer | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Lengshuikeng bathhouse 冷水坑Two gender-separated pools, built 1911 | NT$0free public service | Genuinely free, genuinely public. Separate men's and women's pools, no booking, no ticket. |
| HoursSeven days a week | 09:00–16:30 | Open on Mondays, when Thermal Valley and the Hot Spring Museum are both shut. That alone makes it the answer to a Monday in the area. |
| WaterSulfur, from the same volcanic group | ~40°C | Cooler than the Datun springs, which is where the name comes from — 冷水坑 means cold water pit. Comfortable rather than fierce. |
| The Milk Pond牛奶湖 | Look, don't enter | A milk-white sulfur pool beside the bathhouse. Viewing only, and there is an ivory-coloured cave nearby that is also look-only. |
| Park entryYangmingshan National Park | NT$0free | No gate, no ticket, no reservation for the park itself. |
Hours, temperature and the free-service status from the Taipei city tourism listing for the Lengshuikeng hot spring area, read August 2026. Address: No. 170, Lane 101, Jingshan Road, Shilin District.
Xiaoyoukeng · 02 — where the heat comes from
Standing next to the thing that heats your bath
Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) is a post-volcanic fumarole field on the flank of Qixing Mountain — a bare, yellow-stained hillside venting sulfurous steam through cracks in the rock, loudly, all day. There is a viewing platform, a short trail, and a smell that makes Beitou village seem mild.
This is the single best thing on the mountain for a visitor coming up from Beitou, because it closes the loop. Down in the village you soak in water that arrives at a comfortable 40°C through a pipe. Up here you can see it leaving the ground.
What it is actually like
- Loud. The vents hiss rather than whisper. People are usually surprised by the noise.
- Short. Twenty to thirty minutes covers the platform and the immediate trail.
- Exposed. Almost no shade and often windy — it is around 800 m up and noticeably cooler than Taipei.
- Weather-dependent. In thick cloud you will see white and nothing else. Yangmingshan makes its own weather and it changes fast.
Qixingshan, Taiwan's highest dormant volcano, starts from the same car park if you want a real climb rather than a look.
THE MOUNTAIN, IN STOPS
Xiaoyoukeng — fumaroles, viewing platform, trailhead for Qixingshan.
Lengshuikeng — the free bathhouse, Milk Pond, suspension bridge.
Qingtiangang — grassland plateau, water buffalo, the easiest walking on the mountain.
Zhuzihu — calla lilies in spring, hydrangeas in early summer. Very busy in season.
Flower Clock — the bus hub most routes converge on.
Getting up there · 03 — the honest logistics
The bus problem, stated plainly
Beitou and Yangmingshan look adjacent on a map and behave as though they are not. There is no metro up the mountain, the sights are spread across a large park, and the bus network converges on a terminal rather than running between the places you want.
In practice a self-guided Beitou-plus-Yangmingshan day means something like: metro to Beitou, bus up to the Yangmingshan bus terminal or Flower Clock, change to a park shuttle for Xiaoyoukeng or Lengshuikeng, then reverse the whole thing. Three or four legs, each with a wait, on routes whose frequency drops sharply outside peak times.
The routes people use are S9 from the Beitou and Xinbeitou MRT area up to the Yangmingshan terminal and Zhuzihu; 260 from Taipei Main Station; and 小15 (S15) from Jiantan or Shilin, which is the one that actually reaches Lengshuikeng and Qingtiangang.
We have verified the park's free entry and the Lengshuikeng bathhouse against official Taipei sources. We have not verified these bus numbers or their timetables against an official source today, and mountain routes change seasonally. Check the Taipei bus app or the national park site on the day rather than trusting this paragraph.
What this means for your plan
If you have a full day, decent weather and patience for buses, doing it yourself is entirely possible and costs almost nothing beyond fares. If you have one day in Taipei and want both the volcano and a soak, this is the one situation in this whole survey where a guided tour genuinely buys you something real — not comfort, but three or four bus legs you do not have to solve.
DIY, HONESTLY
- 0 minXinbeitoustart in the village
- +45Terminalbus up the mountain
- +30Shuttleto the sight you want
- +30Backand change again
- ~5 hrsbefore you have soaked
When · 04 — the mountain has seasons the village does not
Yangmingshan is a winter and spring mountain
Beitou is much the same all year — the water is 40°C in January and 40°C in July, and only your willingness to sit in it changes. The mountain is not like that.
Late winter to spring is the peak: cherry blossom through February and March, then calla lilies at Zhuzihu, then hydrangeas into early summer. Cool, clear, and the fumaroles steam hardest against cold air. It is also when the roads are busiest — flower season traffic on Yangmingshan is a genuine problem at weekends.
Autumn is the quiet reward: silvergrass across Qingtiangang, stable weather, few people.
Summer is the weakest. It is cooler than the city, which is the main argument for going, but the afternoon cloud sits on the summit and you can drive to Xiaoyoukeng and see nothing at all. Typhoon season also closes trails at short notice.
The pairing logic holds all year though: the mountain in the morning while it is cool and clear, the bath in the afternoon when you are tired and cold. Doing it the other way round wastes both.
THE MOUNTAIN YEAR
Feb–Mar — cherry blossom. Busiest weekends of the year.
Mar–Apr — calla lilies at Zhuzihu.
May–Jun — hydrangeas, then the heat arrives.
Jul–Sep — cloud on the summit, typhoon risk, weakest views.
Oct–Jan — silvergrass, clear cold air, best steam, fewest people.
Against our own interest — the free bath competes with everything we sell
Three reasons to skip Yangmingshan entirely
We earn a commission on the tour recommended above and nothing whatsoever on the free bathhouse at Lengshuikeng, the free park entry or the bus fare. We have put the free bath at the top of the page anyway, because on a Monday it is the best hot spring answer in the whole area.
Questions · 06
Beitou and Yangmingshan, answered
Is there a free hot spring in Yangmingshan?
Yes. The Lengshuikeng public bathhouse is a free public service with two gender-separated pools, built in 1911, open 09:00–16:30 seven days a week. The water is about 40°C, cooler than the other Datun springs, which is where the name comes from.
Is Yangmingshan National Park free to enter?
Yes. There is no gate, ticket or reservation for the park itself. Individual facilities such as car parks or the flower festival areas may charge, but access to the park, Xiaoyoukeng and Lengshuikeng is free.
Can you do Beitou and Yangmingshan in one day?
Yes, and it is the natural pairing — the same volcanic system, the mountain above and the village below. On public transport it means three or four bus legs and a lot of waiting; allow a full day. The standard day tour exists precisely to remove that, at $81 with ★ 4.6 · 375 reviews.
How do you get to Yangmingshan from Beitou?
By bus — there is no metro up the mountain. The routes in common use are S9 from the Beitou and Xinbeitou MRT area to the Yangmingshan terminal, 260 from Taipei Main Station, and 小15 from Jiantan or Shilin, which is the one that reaches Lengshuikeng and Qingtiangang. Mountain routes change seasonally, so check the Taipei bus app on the day.
What is Xiaoyoukeng?
A post-volcanic fumarole field on the flank of Qixing Mountain — a bare, sulfur-stained hillside venting steam noisily through cracks in the rock, with a viewing platform and a short trail. It is the trailhead for Qixingshan, Taiwan's highest dormant volcano.
What is the best time to visit Yangmingshan?
October to March. Clear cold air, the strongest steam at the fumaroles, silvergrass in autumn and cherry blossom from February. Summer is the weakest: afternoon cloud sits on the summit and typhoons close trails at short notice.
Is Yangmingshan open on Mondays?
Yes. The park and the Lengshuikeng bathhouse are open seven days a week, which makes the mountain the sensible Monday plan when Beitou's Thermal Valley and Hot Spring Museum are both closed.
Next · 07
The rest of the survey
Verified August 2026 · Park entry, the Lengshuikeng bathhouse and the bus fare all earn us nothing. We earn a commission on the tour, at no cost to you.