Natural legend in metropolis Tzaishan /城市自然傳奇─柴山
Located in the southern shore of Kaohsiung, Tzaishan is one of the citizens' best choice for exercise and recreation since the convenient wooden paths are set up.
Wooden paths
Tzaishan wooden path is the main route for mountain climbing and exercising, and the ecological environment around is also the most original. Entering at the Dragon Eye Well, climbing up a little tougher hill, you can see the wooden path. If you prefer other routes, you may choose another way to the Hero slope (Hao-han-po), which is a tougher one. Walking along the wooden path, you will pass by Fujia valley, Yatso sitting area, Careless valley, Hsiao-ping-ting and so on, which provide an excellent view of Taiwan Strait. Animals along the route such as moneys and squirrels attract many visitors. Free drinks are offered by volunteers to every mountain climbers at the sitting area.
Animals at Tzaishan
Tzaishan plays an essential role in Taiwan's ecological history, be it birds, vegetation, insects or squirrels. Among them, Formosan macaques are the most popular. Due to frequent contact with human beings, they are no longer as wild as they were in the past. The visitors' feeding has a great impact on the macaques' abilities of hunting food by themselves; moreover, it may result in overweight macaques. Some aggressive macaques may even attack the visitors for grabbing more food, and this will lead to great danger.
Formosan macaques on the mountain bring visitors great pleasure. Many people come all the way from other places to see them. It's not unusual to have macaques at areas of lower altitude in Taiwan; however, to have such a large amount of macaques in suburbs close to downtown can not often be seen elsewhere. Besides the Monkey Rock, Fujia valley and Grand alley at the foot of North Tzaishan, macaques can also be spotted at National Sun Yat-sen University and South Tzaishan. Sometimes people can even find them at nearby residence.
Conclusion
People who have ever visited Tzaishan will agree that it's a living land. We strongly suggest that visitors should not destroy its environment, keep the ecological circle completed for everyone.
柴山縱貫鼓山區屹立於高雄西邊濱海之處，最近兩年來，因為市府的用心舖設了四通八達的木棧道，如今已成為高雄市「市民運動」的一個代表。
登山木棧道
柴山木棧道為登山健行的主要路線，生態環境也是最原始、自然的。從龍皇寺旁入口，爬上一段較陡的坡，在眼前的就是木棧道了，如果喜歡走自然路面的人，可以走另一條叉路往好漢坡，此路線係考量個人體力及耐力。循著棧道走可經過富家溝、雅座、忘憂谷、小坪頂，還有一些岔路往三角點、相思台，俯瞰海洋，沿途猴子、松鼠出沒，對遊客來說十分有吸引力，雅座等涼亭時時有愛山民眾自力背水上山煮水泡茶，與遊客分享。
柴山的動物
柴山在台灣自然發現史上有著不可抹滅的重要地位，鳥類、植物、花卉、昆蟲、松鼠，其中台灣獼猴無疑是本區最引人注目的動物，也可說是柴山吸引遊客的觀光動物。柴山獼猴因長期和遊客相處，已不是完全野生族群，也因遊客的餵食，相對地大大減少自行覓食機會，有時甚至會強行索食，造成遊客的困擾，此種現象也造成獼猴過度肥胖，破壞野生動物的生態。
到柴山看台灣獼猴是市民在登山健行之餘最大的樂趣，不少遊客從外地來，就是為了在這裡能近距離的親近獼猴。在台灣低海拔地區見到獼猴並不稀奇，但是在一離都市中心如此近的地方能夠見到猴群，則是絕無僅有的。獼猴出沒的地區，除了北柴山的猴岩、富家溝、大峽谷外，在中山大學及南柴山地區也經常出現，甚至涵蓋山腳下民宅，活動範圍可說是遍及整個柴山地區。
結語
來過柴山的人都覺得這片土地會呼吸，希望每一位登山客在親近大自然之餘，也尊重山內動植物生存環境。
Traffic
Both entrances of South and North Tzaishan are located on Kushan Road. There is no parking lot at the entrance of North Tzaishan's wooden path, but the parking spaces by the road of Neiwei elementary school are available. If you arrive Tzaishan at the south entrance, you may use the charged parking lot at the zoo. Bus 56 from Kaohsiung train station and bus31, bus219 between Yancheng and Tsoying are also recommended for visitors to Tzaishan. Generally speaking, it takes no more than a day to visit Tzaishan. Therefore, if you intend to visit only part of Tzaishan, half a day's tour will be quite enough.
交通行程安排
柴山南北兩端的入口都在鼓山路上，北柴山登山步道入口處沒有專用停車場，但可停放在內惟國小附近的路邊停車格，南邊入口可進到動物園收費停車站停車。此外也可搭乘公車，由火車站搭56號公車，或是利用往來鹽埕和左營間的31和219號公車。一般說來遊覽柴山的時間不會超過一天，所以分區登山健行只須安排半天的行程，而南北柴山縱走一天的時間也非常足夠。