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From Urban Chaos to Mountain Top Chill Hike High West in Kennedy Town
Hiking in Kennedy Town up High West, is certainly not an easy task, but it is well worth the effort. Here is a quick preview of the reward that awaits you at the top of High West!
To escape the urban jungle and enter into the literal one, all you’ll have to do is climb the ~2,100 stairs up to the top of High West. By the time you summit this spectacular peak, you’ll be high above all the urban-churn, and you’ll be enjoying spectacular 360 degree views of the city below! If you can summit on a sunny day, the views are even more spectacular!
Fast hikers, plan on 1.5 hours round trip. Average hikers, plan on 2.5 hours. But no matter who you are, I guarantee you’ll love the views at the top! So, get on your hiking shoes, bring a bit of water, and get hiking! It all begins from Kennedy Town too, so Mt. High West is super accessible.
If you’d to go hiking in Kennedy Town up High West, but you’d like us to guide you, we LOVE sharing this gem of a hike with folks, so just click below, send us a message, and we’ll be back in touch with you shortly!
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What You’ll Need
For this hike, all really need is some water, and you’ll be good to go! I really like the Hydro Flask water bottles*, as they’re sturdy, and best of all, insulated. If it’s hot, I put some ice in the bottle, and if it’s cold I’ll fill it with warm/hot water. Either way, don’t use a plastic disposable bottle. We and Mother Earth say thank you in advance! (If you’re keen to start living a little greener, check out our Living Greener Guide to Hong Kong or even Hong Kong’s first zero waste store!)
You can fill up your water bottles right here at this water bottle filling station.

Where to Start Hiking up High West from Kennedy Town
This route, round trip is ~6.2km (3.85 mi), but it’s got quite a bit of elevation gain. If you’d like to see the route on Google Maps, check out the Mt. High West route map here.


Kennedy Town to Pok Fu Lam Road (300 stairs to climb)




Sinopec to the Paved Road (638 stairs to climb) – You’re Hiking up High West
300 down! About 1,800 more steps to go! We never said hiking in Kennedy Town up High West would be easy, but we promise you it’s massively rewarding!


Not sure you wanna navigate this on your own? We’d be glad to guide you on this hike! Just click below, send us a message, and we’ll be back in touch with you shortly!
Turn Off From the Paved Road to the BBQ Sites (262 stairs to climb) – Keep Hiking up High West
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming… Or more practically speaking, if your legs are burning at this point, take a rest and enjoy the verdant jungle beauty!





Playground to the Summit (567 stairs to climb) – Final Push to the Summit of Mt. High West

This is where hiking in Kennedy Town up High West pays off majorly! More often than not, you’ll be rewarded with BEAUTIFUL views and a refreshingly stiff breeze! At this point, take a load off, congratulate yourself, and make sure to give your legs a rest before you head back down those 2,100 little buggers!
Again, if you’re keen for us to guide you up Mt. High West, give a click below, and let us know. We’ll get back to you ASAP!
So there ya have it! Hiking in Kennedy up High West is a great way to escape the city and get back into nature. If you’re looking for another Hong Kong Island based adventure, check out our Jardine’s Lookout hiking guide or our family friendly Hong Pak Trail hiking guide. If you’re looking to have an off the beaten path adventure in Hong Kong, consider hiking the Ng Tung Chai waterfalls up in the New Territories or even hiking Tai To Yan – The Dragon’s Back of the New Territories. And, whatever you do, if you have any questions, we’re always here to help. Just leave us a comment below, and we’ll be back to you in a flash. Happy hiking!
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12 Comments
Stairmasters!!! Looks like an awesome hike!!
It’s one of our favorites! I sure wish you could do it with us 🙂
Hi there! Thanks for this blog post, I did this as a sunset wine hike yesterday and it was lovely. I was wondering if you know how long (how many meters or km) is this total track, from Kennedy Town to the top? I forgot to track it and I was hoping you guys did. Thanks in advance!
Amelie,
Thanks for your appreciation! I’ve just added a Google Map route for this hike. If you’d like to see it, the link is in the “Where to Start Hiking in Kennedy Town” section. In case you don’t want to look there, the route is ~6.2km (3.85 mi) round trip. Good question! Thanks for that 🙂 Happy hiking, and please let us know if you have any other questions. Cheers!
Followed your step by step directions and pictures to get on top of mount high west. Thanks to you our unorganized trio made it to the top 🙂 I am a blogger too so I can tell when I see a good, informative blog – great job girl!
Hi Jo,
Thanks for the kind words! We are always trying our best to provide our readers the inspiration and information they need to craft their own off the beaten path adventure travel experiences, so I’m really pleased to hear you found our post on High West so informative 🙂 Have you thought about checking out Suicide Cliff or Razor’s Edge Ridge? They are both GREAT hikes, and you can find them in our Experiences tab in the Hong Kong section. Cheers!
Thanks so much for the great post! It looks amazing, but quite challenging for my family with two children. Keep up with your good work!
Tonkin,
Thank you for the kind words! High West is definitely a challenging one, but WELL DONE on making it up there with your family and two children! Impressive stuff! Let us know if you’re looking for other family-friendly adventures!
hi i watched your hiking guide and liked the way that you suggest us to use the required things to bring before doing hiking.the thing is i would like to ask u about the drone that u have recommend to use is 899 hk dollar?u said order from.amazon.is it really good quality and durable m?
Hi Ruby, thanks for the question! We love that drone. We have had it for about 9 months now, and so far it’s been VERY durable, very small (so it’s portable) and very high quality! If you have more questions send us an email at hello@forsomethingmore.com 🙂
On one of your headings, “Kennedy Town to Pok Fu Lam Road (300 stairs to climb)”. Did you mean 300 steps or 300 stairs?
Hi Jo,
What we meant is that there are 300 stairs to climb. You could also say 300 steps, as we see those terms to be synonymous.