Lamma Island

Hong Kong’s third largest island contains a unique and well-established network of homegrown mountain bike trails, some of which are highly rated for their technical difficulty. Set above the charming fishing village of Yung Shue Wan, a half-day of tough riding challenges awaits you. 

Most trails are accessible from two concrete paths that are known locally as Cable Road. These artery-like corridors allow easy flow from one bike trail to the other for a mash-up of routes in any combination you want. From technical single-track and steep climbs to descents through buttery berms that scoop you along in downhill bliss.

You’ll take in four trails on this ride which should whet your appetite to explore even further. This 10-kilometer jaunt takes in Deliverance, Tom’s Back Passage, Snakes Tail, and the mighty Project X with its brutal climb and legendary downhill.

DIRECTIONS

  1. From Yung Shue Wan’s ferry pier, head into the village and turn left up the Family Trail to Tai Peng Village, turning right when you reach the end of the path.
  2. Carry on, veering left at the fork, and turn right onto Cable Road. Take the first left onto Deliverance, where you begin a 1.9-kilometer loop that ends around 20 meters up the Cable Road from Deliverance’s entrance.
  3. Deliverance is a short 700-meter-long contour that flows upwards over easy gradients. Sprinkled with a few steep climbs along the way (and two creek crossings), it’s ridable in both directions, so watch out for bikes coming down the trail.
  4. You join Tom’s Back Passage midway for a 700-meter-long stretch that climbs along expansive open views.
  5. At the top, 360-degree views await and a steep descent that flows down into a high-walled berm and on into Snakes Tail with its mix of jumps and gnarly descent than are a good test of anyone’s technical skills.
  6. Next, you’re heading up Pak Kok Shan peak via the famous Project X trail network using the first of two available entrances. A steep, gnarly climb takes you into a forest before descending into the main trail.
  7. From here, Project X presents riders with many route options. You’ll be taking the time-tested route along a contour trail that gently winds under trees before emerging on the coast.
  8. At the headland, the climb begins with an option to go straight up, but this route veers off to the left for an 890-meter-long climb up to the top via a series of view-packed switchbacks.
  9. The downhill comprises an upper and lower section divided in the middle by an escape route that leads back to where you began. You’re taking the whole 650-meter-long descent. It’s steep and transitions into even steeper terrain through a succession of buttery clay-lined berms that scoop you along in downhill bliss. A steep climb-out eventually leads back to Cable Road.
  10. The route ends at the base of Cable Road where we get sea level views over to Hong Kong Island. From there, ferries from nearby Pak Kok Village (to Aberdeen) or Yung Shue Wan (to Central and Aberdeen) await.

GALLERY