Yenchao Nature's Geography Classroom/燕巢 天然的地理教室
The rural township of Yenchao, Kaohsiung County, is located at the edge of the Kaohsiung Plain, where it meets the Neimen Foothill. Being the central area of Kaohsiung County, both the Sun Yat-sen Freeway and the southern section of the Second Freeway have a Yenchao interchange. Get on the freeway in Kaohsiung City and it's only a 15-minute drive to reach Yenchao.
The widely known mud volcanoes
Yenchao is known for its mud volcanoes. They are not real volcanoes, but small volcano-shaped cones of mud that, mixing with hot water, either pours gently from a vent in the ground like a fluid lava flow or is ejected into the air like a lava fountain by escaping petroleum or other high-pressure gas. Wushanting mud volcanoes fall into the former category. They are in the mountain area in back of the Yenchao Campus of National Kaohsiung Normal University, and the "Wushanting Mud Volcano Nature Reserve" was established there.
Other mud volcanoes can be found in the Chienchiuliao mud volcano area, which includes Chinshan Village Foster-daughter Lake and Kunshuiping mud volcanoes.
The bad-land topography
In addition to mud volcanoes, the scenic spots in Yenchao also include Taiyang ("Sun") Valley, Chikuan ("Cockscomb") Mountain and Akungtien Reservoir. Taiyang Valley is located at Chinshan Village; its bad-land topography is similar to the Grand Canyon in the U.S. The 200-meter high Chikuan Mountain is Yenchao's landmark, which gets the name because severe erosion has made the mountaintop look like a cockscomb. Akungtien Reservoir is the first reservoir constructed by Taiwan people after the island's retrocession. Its two-kilometer long dike is a good place for jogging and walking.
Next to the reservoir is the famous "Grand World International Village" amusement park, which will extend service to 8:00 p.m. during summer vacation.
高雄縣燕巢鄉地理位置得天獨厚，由於處於高雄平原及內門丘陵的接觸地帶，境內不僅山巒起伏，兼具平原開闊之美，而且位在整個高雄縣的中心地帶，中山高和南二高均設有交流道，從高雄市上高速公路約15分鐘車程即可抵達。
早在西元1661年之前，就有發源於茄萣白沙崙的馬卡道族「大傑巔社」原住民在此活動，明末鄭成功來台後，於永曆15年(西元1661年)5月18日頒佈著名的「屯田令」，將部隊分南、北兩路擇地屯田開墾，其中，援剿中、援剿右、角宿諸鎮來到燕巢插竹為社，斬茅為屋，開莊闢地。經過數年屯墾，原「大傑巔社」原住民越過烏山，遷移至溪州。康熙60年清軍平朱一貴有功，勢力延伸至濁水溪北的尖山。目前燕巢尖山村尚留有公廨，舊城國小則保有乾隆元年的「禁侵番界諭示碑」，庄頭庄尾可見馬卡道系「塔樓社」的原始信仰遺跡－石頭公。
泥火山最富盛名
燕巢最富盛名的景觀為泥火山，泥火山並非真正的火山，而是一種噴泥漿的假火山，其活動原理為地下的石油氣及其他高壓氣體，混合著含有大量水分的低溫泥漿，一同噴出地表的現象，因很像火山噴漿活動，且泥漿會堆積形成類似迷你火山的地形，而稱為「泥火山」，依形狀大小又可分為噴泥錐、噴泥盾、噴泥池、噴泥盆和噴泥洞。
燕巢泥火山集中在烏山頂泥火山群和千秋寮泥火山區，位於高雄師範大學燕巢校區後山的烏山頂泥火山群，因位置關係地下水壓不強，噴出的地下水量很少，泥漿噴出後堆積在噴泥口，而累積成錐形的泥火山，稱為「噴泥錐」，由於地理景觀特殊，因此設立「自然景觀保護區」保護。
千秋寮泥火山區包括金山村養女湖和滾水坪泥火山，而養女湖泥火山還有一段淒美哀怨的傳說，相傳早年在養女湖附近有位養女，與同村的張姓青年情投意合極為相愛，由於不願被養母逼迫嫁給異姓哥哥，於是與張姓青年雙雙投湖自盡，「養女湖」因而得名，而四周山巒起伏的養女湖，日夜不停「波！波！」、「咕！咕！」、「咕嘟！咕嘟！」噴泥翻滾的聲音，就好像自盡的養女哀怨、無助的哭聲，令人聞之鼻酸。
滾水坪泥火山頂上有乳房狀的噴口，口徑一尺餘，每三、四十分鐘噴出泥土，同時散發出瓦斯，點火會燃燒，由於其噴口泥漿累積有如富士山，頗令日本人著迷，昭和８年曾列入天然紀念物保護，周圍植樹成林，並設有座椅等休閒設施，為當時日人來燕巢必遊之地。
惡地形媲美大峽谷
燕巢的自然景觀還包括太陽谷、雞冠山和阿公店水庫，位於金山村埤底巷的太陽谷，為燕巢地形最險峻的惡地形，類似美國大峽谷，雞冠山高約二百公尺，頂端因差異侵蝕分裂成雞冠形狀，又因突出部分像麒麟的尾部，當地村民又稱「麒麟山」，成為燕巢的著名地標，阿公店水庫為台灣光復後首先由國人自力完成的水庫，長達兩公里的壩堤，相當適合慢跑、散步。
阿公店水庫旁並有聞名全台的「大世界國際村」遊樂區，標榜不必出國，就可欣賞到各國勁歌熱舞的表演、手工藝、世界馬戲童玩競技和非洲伊利安食人族的廬山真面目，暑假期間開園時間特別延長到晚上８點。