Sunset Peak Hike, Lantau: Silvergrass Season, the Stone Huts & the Best Way Up

The Sunset Peak hike on Lantau climbs Tai Tung Shan, at 869 metres the third-highest summit in Hong Kong, through a hillside of silvergrass and a cluster of nearly 100-year-old stone huts to a top where the sun drops right beside Lantau Peak. It is not the easy option. The climb includes close to an hour of near-continuous stone stairs, and there is nowhere to buy water once you start. But unlike its taller neighbour, it does not ask you to catch a 4:50am bus, and in autumn the upper slopes turn pale gold. Here is how to do it well.

Sunset Peak at a glance

• Height: 869m. Only Tai Mo Shan and Lantau Peak are higher in Hong Kong.
• Trail: Lantau Trail Section 2, which runs 6.5km between Nam Shan (about 120m above sea level) and Pak Kung Au (about 340m).
• Time: about 3.5 hours in winter and 4 in summer for the full Nam Shan to Pak Kung Au crossing, before detours or a long sit at the top.
• Difficulty: hard. Thousands of stone steps, a sustained climb, strong wind on the ridge. Not technical.
• Facilities: none on the trail. Bring all your food and water.

Sunset Peak or Lantau Peak?

Google tends to blur the two. They sit side by side on the Lantau Trail, with Pak Kung Au between them. Lantau Peak is the higher (934m) and the classic sunrise climb, which means a pre-dawn bus and a staircase in the dark. Sunset Peak is the afternoon hike: you climb in daylight, get a gentler grassy middle section, and finish as the light goes. Neither is gentle. Sunset Peak is simply the one you can do without an alarm clock.

Strong hikers do both in a day. Starting from Mui Wo, the full crossing over both summits takes around six hours and ends at Ngong Ping, where buses run to Tung Chung and Mui Wo.

Which way up: Nam Shan or Pak Kung Au

Up from Nam Shan, down to Pak Kung Au (the one I would pick). Take the MTR to Tung Chung and catch New Lantao Bus 3M towards Mui Wo from the bus terminus by the station. Get off at the Nam Shan Campsite stop, walk under the Lantau Trail arch and follow the yellow signs for "Pak Kung Au via Sunset Peak". Coming from Mui Wo instead, every bus out of the town passes the same stop. This direction is quieter at the start, more of the climb is shaded, and you reach the summit near the end of the day, when the light is best.

Up from Pak Kung Au. This is the popular start, with a sitting area and toilets at the trailhead. Buses 3M and 11 from Tung Chung stop there. You start higher, so there is less total climbing, but you meet the summit first and then face the long descent towards Nam Shan.

A third route starts at Wong Lung Hang, about 2.5km on foot from Tung Chung MTR, but it is steeper and opens with a stretch of concrete road.

What the climb is actually like

From Nam Shan, the first 15 minutes along the Nam Shan Tree Walk to a helipad are shaded and mostly easy. Then the stairs begin, and they hardly stop for 45 minutes to an hour. This is the hardest part of the day. Take breaks and do not judge the hike by how you feel here.

At the first viewpoint the trail opens onto grassland. About 10 minutes on, a pair of yellow signs marks the junction for Lin Fa Shan, an optional summit roughly 20 minutes each way with no shade at all. Skip it if you are flagging. The main trail carries on towards Pak Kung Au along a mostly level stretch with the airport spread out below.

The real summit is easy to miss. Past the second viewpoint the trail reaches Springboard Rock, and a short climb up from there leads to the black-and-white trig point marking the top. If you keep walking past Springboard Rock, you are already heading down.

The stone huts

Just below the summit you walk through the Lantau Mountain Camp: a scatter of stone cabins built in the 1920s and 1930s as summer retreats for foreign missionaries. Of the 22 cabins, 19 are still lived in, and every one is privately owned. They are locked, and the residents have formed an association because hikers have left rubbish behind and climbed on the roofs. Photograph them from the path and leave them alone.

When to go: silvergrass season and the crowds

Silvergrass covers the upper slopes through autumn and winter, and it is usually at its fullest around November. That is also when the mountain is busiest. On winter weekends and public holidays expect a crowd shooting the same sunset, so go on a weekday if you can.

Summer is emptier but much harder: the stairs in the heat are brutal, so carry more water than you think you need. The top is windy and cold in winter, so bring a warm layer even if Tung Chung felt mild. Check the Hong Kong Observatory forecast before you set out, and skip the ridge in rain or a thunderstorm warning.

The dry grass also burns. Hill fires broke out near the trail on two consecutive weekends in the winter of 2021. Do not smoke up there.

Staying for sunset and getting down

From the ridge you see the airport to the north, Pui O beach and the islands of the South China Sea to the south, and, as the sun goes down, the outline of Lantau Peak right beside it. If you stay for the last light, you will be walking down in the dark, so a headlamp is essential.

The descent to Pak Kung Au is roughly 2km of steep stone steps. The bus stop is across the road at the bottom, with 3M, 11 and 23 all running back to Tung Chung MTR. If you went the other way and finished at Nam Shan, you can carry on down the old village path into Mui Wo and take the ferry back to Central Pier 6, which turns the hike into the back half of a Mui Wo day trip.

If this is your first Hong Kong hike, start with something shorter. Our beginner hiking guide has easier walks to build up on, and the best hiking trails with a view list puts Sunset Peak alongside the city's other big viewpoints.

Quick answers

How long does it take to hike to Sunset Peak? Allow about 3.5 hours (winter) to 4 hours (summer) for the full Nam Shan to Pak Kung Au crossing, plus however long you stay at the top. The hardest stretch, the stairs above the Nam Shan helipad, takes 45 minutes to an hour on its own.

Is Sunset Peak harder than Lantau Peak? They are close. Both are long stone staircases rated hard. Lantau Peak is 65m higher and usually done before dawn; Sunset Peak is done in daylight with a gentler grassy middle section. If you can do one, you can do the other.

Where is the best place to hike to see the sunset in Hong Kong? Sunset Peak is the obvious answer: it faces west towards Lantau Peak and the sea, and the summit view is open in every direction.

When is silvergrass season on Sunset Peak? Autumn into winter, usually fullest around November. Go on a weekday to dodge the crowds.