Bowen Road Fitness Trail

Roads in Hong Kong can be pretty hairy for runners, especially with the F1 style taxi and minibus driving. If you are into your fitness, you would be wise to go to the Bowen Road Fitness Trail. It’s a 4 km long «running» track, and I mean that in the most basic a sense, i.e. it’s a strip of pavement, which is partially closed off to traffic. Technically, cars are allowed on a lot of it, but these are obviously servicing the 2 – 3 houses down there, so seeing cars is pretty rare.
The running track is nice and flat, and offers great views across HK island. It’s actually quite amazing how far along you go. Even though it’s only 4 km, you pretty much go from Central though to Happy Valley. The views looking out to the Hopewell Centre as you pass Wan Chai are particularly striking at night.
The track «officially» starts (or ends) at the junction of Magazine Gap Road and Bowen Road, and goes all the way through to Stubbs Road, where the HK Adventist Hospital is. Along the track are a few drop out areas with fitness equipment, like pull up bars and the like. There are also a couple of public toilets on the way.
Despite being a city trail, it is surprisingly country-​like. There is plenty of flora and fauna to see. I have heard of reports of snakes, but the only thing that has bitten me is the blasted mozzies — grrrr! At night, there are patches which are poorly lit, so it can get a bit freaky — especially when you see the trees rustling! Don’t be worried, like most of HK it is very safe. You won’t get hoodies here shanking you for your Nokia. If you do get scared, just run a bit faster to the next lit patch.