High Junk Peak

Geography & Hiking Route

Rising 344 metres within Clear Water Bay Country Park in the New Territories, High Junk Peak is the tallest point on the Clear Water Bay Peninsula and one of Hong Kong’s so-called Three Sharp Peaks, alongside Sharp Peak (468 metres, Sai Kung) and Castle Peak (583 metres, Tuen Mun). Height alone understates the difficulty: the peak’s defining feature is its steepness, a summit cone of prehistoric volcanic rock weathered into a narrow, precipitous profile that demands real scrambling on exposed sections near the top, not just steady walking. Hikers who make the final push are rewarded with views stretching over Joss House Bay, Port Shelter, and the open South China Sea beyond — a sweep of coastline that makes the peak disproportionately popular for its modest elevation.

Lore & History

The peak’s Chinese name, 釣魚翁, translates roughly as “the old fisherman” or, in some renderings, “kingfisher,” a name most commonly explained by the way the summit’s silhouette was said to resemble a bird perched watching the water, or a fisherman bent over his line — accounts vary, and no single origin story dominates. What is better documented is the peak’s role in local orientation for centuries before it became a hiking destination: its sharp, recognisable profile made it a natural landmark for fishing communities working the waters of Joss House Bay and Clear Water Bay long before the area was designated a country park in the 1970s, when Hong Kong’s rapid urbanisation prompted the government to formally protect its remaining undeveloped hill country.

Transit & Access

Reaching the trailhead means taking the MTR Tseung Kwan O Line to Po Lam Station, then a Green Minibus (route 16) toward Hau Tak Estate, alighting at Ng Kwun Hau where the paved ascent toward Sheung Sze Wan begins. The connection from dense residential Tseung Kwan O to an exposed volcanic ridgeline takes under 40 minutes door to trailhead — one of the more striking examples in Hong Kong of how quickly the MTR network can trade high-rise density for open coastline.

Local Taste

Most hikers fuel up beforehand rather than after, since there is nothing resembling a food stall anywhere near the exposed summit. Cha chaan teng outlets in Po Lam or Hang Hau are the standard stop: a milk tea brewed through a cloth strainer — the “silk stocking” method that gives the drink its characteristic smoothness — paired with a pineapple bun split open around a thick, cold slab of butter. It is not a subtle combination, but the sugar and fat are exactly what the steep, shadeless scramble ahead calls for, and the ritual of stopping for one before a hard hike is common enough across Hong Kong’s peaks that it barely counts as a choice anymore.

ESG Note

The peak’s popularity has brought predictable wear to its narrow scramble sections, and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department periodically installs rope handholds and stone steps to slow erosion on the steepest pitches without over-engineering a route hikers specifically come to for its rawness. Mountain-rescue callouts here are not uncommon, usually involving hikers who underestimate the difference between the peak’s modest elevation and its actual technical demands — a mismatch that makes High Junk Peak a recurring case study in Hong Kong hiking circles for why height alone is a poor measure of a trail’s difficulty.