Guides · Thu 29 Oct 2026
Trail season: TransLantau, Trailwalker and Hong Kong's winter hills
November is when Hong Kong's trail calendar peaks: two flagship ultras on back to back weekends, then a month of mountain races in the cool, dry weeks. How the season runs, and how to watch it or join it.
Hong Kong's best hiking weeks are not an accident of the calendar. From November the northeast monsoon brings the cool, dry weather the territory waits for all year, and the trail racing season is stacked into it: two of Asia's flagship ultras on back to back weekends, then mountain races through December. Roughly three quarters of Hong Kong is countryside, and this is the month it shows. Here is how the season runs, for runners, for the support crews who are half the event, and for walkers who just want the hills at their best.
TransLantau, 13 to 15 November
The season opens on the wildest ground in the territory. TransLantau by UTMB, based in Mui Wo on Lantau Island, runs four races across three days, confirmed on the official UTMB World Series page: the 104 kilometre TransLantau100 on Friday 13 November, with 4,500 metres of climbing over Lantau Peak and Sunset Peak, the 45 kilometre TransLantau50 on Saturday 14 November, and the 27 kilometre and 15 kilometre races on Sunday 15 November. The courses thread the island's country parks, passing Tai O's stilt houses and the Big Buddha at Ngong Ping far above the south coast. Entry is paid and the shorter races fill first: the official site showed the 50 and 25 kilometre fields full when we checked, with the 100 still open. Spectating along the trails is free, and Mui Wo, with the ferry pier, the finish and the island's buses in one small town, is the place to watch from.
Oxfam Trailwalker, 20 to 22 November
A week later the season's great team epic takes over the MacLehose Trail. The Oxfam Trailwalker sends teams of four from Pak Tam Chung in Sai Kung to Harrow International School in Tuen Mun, 100 kilometres within 48 hours, raising money for Oxfam's work: the official event page sets a minimum sponsorship of HK$8,000 per team, staggered starts from 8am on Friday 20 November, and nine checkpoints along the route. The 2026 edition also adds a 20 kilometre route for Oxfam's 50th anniversary. Trailwalker is as much a spectator and support event as a race: crews meet their teams at checkpoints through the night, and the Sai Kung country park sections on the first evening and the finish in Tuen Mun across Saturday and Sunday are the places to feel it. Registration for the 100 kilometre field runs by lottery in May, so this year's teams are already set; the way in for a visitor is to walk with the event, not in it.
The season rolls on
The two flagships are the peak, not the whole season. The ALTRA King of the Hills Sai Kung Mountain Marathon follows on Sunday 29 November, the opening leg of the long running mountain marathon series: its 2026 date is labelled tentative on our page, taken from the series announcement rather than an organiser page, so confirm before you enter. A week later, on Sunday 6 December, the Sai Kung 50 starts at Pak Tam Chung, confirmed on Action Asia Events' published series list, and the King of the Hills series continues into the new year with its Lantau leg in January. The pattern to plan around is simple: the same cool weeks that suit the racers suit everyone, and the MacLehose and Lantau trails in late November and December are Hong Kong hiking at its best, race or no race.
Rest days and bases
Nobody races or walks every day of a trip, and the season's geography hands you the rest days. Lantau race weekends pair with the island's own sights: the Ngong Ping 360 cable car and the Big Buddha sit on the TransLantau course itself, and its card, along with the Big Bus sightseeing card for a gentle day in the city, is on our attractions page. Base in Mui Wo or Tung Chung for the Lantau weekend, and in Sai Kung town or anywhere on the East Rail line for Trailwalker weekend; the hotels page weighs the districts. Pack for the season properly: November trails mean sun and cool wind rather than summer's humidity, but the ridges are exposed, and the racers' rule, layers and water, is the walker's rule too.
More reading on the articles page, or go straight to the events calendar.