Qingshui Geothermal Park

The route to Qingshui Geothermal Park takes you through the quiet rural townships of Yilan, following the wide, gravelly bed of the Qingshui River into a secluded mountain valley. The final approach involves a narrow country road lined with green forests that suddenly opens up into a modern, beautifully landscaped public park. The setting is vibrant and active, with columns of white steam rising from stone pavilions scattered across wide lawns. Qingshui is not a traditional full body soaking spring, but rather a specialized geothermal park focused on foot baths and thermal cooking. Admission to the park is completely free, with small fees for parking and renting cooking baskets. There are several beautifully designed, wood timbered foot soaking pools where you can sit on smooth wooden benches and immerse your legs in the steaming water. Since this is an open public foot park, there are no nudity rules, and any clothing that can be rolled up to the knee is fine. Tattoos are completely a non issue. The water is a crystal clear, alkaline sodium bicarbonate spring with a very faint, pleasant sulfur aroma, maintained at roughly forty-two degrees Celsius in the foot streams. The cooking pools, however, are a boiling ninety-five degrees. You do not need to bring much besides a small towel to dry your feet. To avoid the massive crowds of families with young children, avoid weekends entirely and arrive on a weekday morning. The quintessential local experience here is renting a bamboo basket for a nominal fee, buying fresh local eggs, corn, and water chestnuts from the park cooperative, and lowering them into the boiling geothermal waters to cook your own lunch while your feet stay warm in the soaking pools.