Plover Cove Country Park occupies a rugged east coast peninsula north of Plover Cove Reservoir, whose dam wall has turned a former marine bay into one of Hong Kong’s major water sources. The access point is Tai Mei Tuk hamlet (bus #75K from Tai Po Market KCR), comprising a clutch of houses, food and drink stalls, the Bradbury Lodge Youth Hostel, and a visitors’ centre (Mon, Wed-Sun 9.30-11.30am & 1.30-4.30pm) providing hiking advice. From here you can either follow the road around the reservoir or hike cross-country for 5km to Bride’s Pool, a pretty series of forested waterfalls, popular with picnickers. Other trails from here continue downriver a few kilometres to Chung Mei, an abandoned village once populated by farmers and scallop gatherers; and 5km north to the shores of Starling Inlet, from where you can return to Tai Mei Tuk via Pat Sin Leng’s pathways.

Tai Mei Tuk is also the starting point for hikes into Pat Sin Leng Country Park - the name means “Eight Immortals Peak” and the trails through it follow a string of ridges north to Starling Inlet (around 10km) or west and then south back to Tai Po (15km). The hikes are great exercise and have fabulous coastal views, as the hilltops are bare granite, with low shrubs on upper slopes and lightly wooded lowlands. Neither requires special skills, beyond being reasonably fit - gradients are steep, so take plenty of water.