Braemar Hill Hike : Hong Kong Guide
This is the an easy hike with an incredible payoff. The hike really is just a short walk with the option to either take a 3km walk or even just a quick 5 minutes from the nearest bus stop.
The views overlooking the harbour are breathtaking and an absolute must do for anyone visiting Hong Kong – in fact if you are only going to do 1 hike you might as well make it this one! A perfect sunset or sunrise hike.
This hike is also known as the incense burner summit and can be quite crowded on weekends and holidays.
Hike Distance: Starting at Mt Butler Road this is just 3km to reach the summit, with plenty of amazing viewpoints along the way. Alternatively you can get the bus to St.Joan of Arc Secondary School and it will be just a 2 minute walk.
Hike Duration: Either under 5 minutes from the bus stop or 1 hour along Mt Butler Road including taking photos. Gives yourself 2-3 hours for walking and waiting for the city to light up to take your photos.
Hike Difficulty: Easy! Even with children this is very doable.
Hike Incline: From Mt Butler Road about 120m
Getting there
Assuming that you will be walking up Mt Butler Road to make the most of the views on the way up grab the 24M bus that takes you to Mount Butler Block C & D.
This is the end of the bus route so no need to panic about jumping off quickly.
Use google maps to head to Red Incense Burner Summit and make sure to stop at all of the rock viewpoints for some cool photos along the way.
Getting back
Simply head to St. Joan of Arc Secondary school just a couple of minutes away. The bus goes to Admiralty which is useful for connecting MTRs or buses.
The Hike
The first kilometre is similar to many hikes in Hong Kong with the mix of nature of city, then the city slowly fades as you walk into the trees. At times the city will disappear from view behind the trees.
The advantage of hiking up from Mt Butler Road is all of the viewpoints that you will find. The first is the bottom of a small creak that if you follow leads to a small rock clearing with a great view of the city.
Follow the path a little longer and there is another clearing with a rock platform, there are actually a few on this little path so make sure you explore on the way.
Continue on the path until you get to a small sign in Cantonese on the left of the path, this says ‘Red Burner Incense Summit’. Not long after the sign you veer of left of the main path down a dirt path to the best view on the hike. There are large boulders that you can sit on and generally there is nobody else here! I like to sit here until the city lights start to come on and then head to the final viewpoint.
You can go to Braemer Hill Viewpooint that is a bit higher or you can go to Red Incense Burner summit lower down. At both of these there normally be other people with cameras and tripods set up ready to catch the night photos.
When you are ready simply head down either the way you came up, or take the quick 2 minute walk to the St. Joan of Arc Secondary school and grab the bus.
Worth noting – if you do this hike at sunrise and the paths are quite you may encounter boars or other wildlife. It is important to follow the advice given on HK government signs posted around the city.
That’s it! The easiest hike you will do in Hong Kong and the views are amazing. If you are short on time and / or energy and only want to do one hike I would definitely pick this one.
