🌳 Green Retreat: Aberdeen Country Park

#hkonbudget Background Aberdeen Country Park is one of Hong Kong Island’s oldest country parks, covering about 423 hectares of upland terrain near the Aberdeen area of the south side.  The park incorporates the Upper and Lower Aberdeen Reservoirs, forested slopes, and ridgelines stretching up toward Wanchai Gap and toward Peak Road.  It was officially designated a country park in 1977, though the reservoirs date back to the early 1930s.  Why It’s Worth Visiting Aberdeen Country Park offers a variety of trails to suit different moods: the easy Aberdeen Nature Trail along the Lower Reservoir, more moderate hikes like the Aberdeen Upper Reservoir Accessible Route, scenic forest walks, and “Lady Clementi’s Ride,” a gentler lane with beautiful woodland views.  For those who enjoy birdwatching or nature spotting, the area is rich with wildlife: black-kites soar overhead, kingfishers and greater coucals hide among trees, and the botany is lush—trees like Brisbane box, Schima, Gordonia, Ivy Tree, Rose Myrtle and others dominate the forest.  The reservoirs themselves are scenic focal points; the lower dam’s stone bridge and the vantage points along Peak Road or Guildford Road deliver sweeping views back toward Aberdeen, Ap Lei Chau, and the coastal bays.  My Impression Walking here feels like finding nature just behind the city’s edge. The shade under the trees, the quiet moments by the reservoir, and the occasional vista opening to sea and sky all provide calm that’s hard to match in central Hong Kong. Some paths are easy, others more rugged, but even the moderate ones reward you with unexpected peacefulness. For me, Aberdeen Country Park wasn’t just a hike—it was a reminder that in Hong Kong, wilderness is never far away.