Wilson Trail Stage 2: Jardine's Lookout

Wilson Trail Stage 2 packs two climbs, a string of war relics and some of the island's best skyline-from-the-forest views into a half-day. Most people walk it from north to south, starting at Tai Koo MTR and finishing at Wong Nai Chung Gap, where some of the fiercest fighting of the Battle of Hong Kong took place in December 1941. From Greig Road the path enters the Quarry Bay Tree Walk and climbs Mount Parker's northern slopes. Here you pass two large cement field stoves, built after Japan captured Guangzhou in 1938 as part of Hong Kong's preparations for siege. They were never used, and are the only relics of their kind in Hong Kong. Beyond a small Kwun Yam shrine the trail follows Sir Cecil's Ride, an old bridle path the Japanese used to approach the hillside, crosses Mount Parker Road, and then turns uphill in earnest. The first big climb is Siu Ma Shan, 424 metres, up a relentless staircase. The second is Jardine's Lookout, 433 metres, marked by a trigonometric point. The trading house Jardine Matheson once posted lookouts here to spot its mail ships arriving from India and London in the mid-1800s. From the ridge you look back over Tai Tam's reservoirs towards Stanley and the southern islands. A short detour leads to neighbouring Mount Butler, 436 metres, if you want one more summit. The descent to Wong Nai Chung Gap ends near a granite memorial to Company Sergeant-Major John Osborn of the Winnipeg Grenadiers. He threw himself on a grenade to save his men and was the only soldier in the Battle of Hong Kong awarded the Victoria Cross. Crowds are much thinner than on Dragon's Back, and buses leave from the Gap for Central.