Boats: Gorge Camping

Gorge Camping

The Taroko Gorge is composed mainly metomorphic rocks, such as marble,gneiss, "schist",etc. The name, Taroko, means the "magnificent and splendid" in the language of Truku, the aboriginal tribe who resides in the area.

History

When Taroko National Park [2] was eventually established on November 28, 1986, it was of special significance for the environmental protection movement in Taiwan: it showed that both the public and the government agencies had realized despite the nation's four decades of extraordinary economic success, serious damage was being done to its natural resources. According to the National Park Act of the Republic of China (passed in 1972), parks are established to protect the natural scenery, historic relics and wildlife; to conserve natural resources; and to facilitate scientific research and promote environmental education.

Landscape

The most phenomenal aspect of the park is the amazing relief. In a single afternoon you can travel from rugged coastal cliffs through a maze of subtropical forested canyons to high elevation subalpine coniferous forests.

In about 60 kilometers the landscape rises from sea level to some of the tallest peaks in Taiwan at over 3400 meters. That's steep!

The force behind the steep valleys and narrow canyons is a (geologically speaking) relatively fast rate of uplift combined with ample water. Over the last 70 million years, these two forces collaborated to form the world's deepest marble canyon. The slot canyons here are remarkable with narrows sections a thousand feet high and only a dozen yards apart, reminiscent of the Virgin River in Zion National Park in Utah, USA. Ignore the fact that Zion is in the desert, and made of sandstone and of sandstone and Taroko is subtropical and comprised of marble, and these two gorges have a lot in common.