Taiwan's northeast coast compresses 20 million years of geology, three centuries of mining history, and two distinct ecosystems into a 60-kilometre arc between Taipei and the Pacific. The route threading Yehliu Geopark, the Golden Waterfall cascades of Jinguashi, the lantern-draped lanes of Jiufen Old Street, and Shifen's plunge pool became a standard northern Taiwan touring circuit only after the completion of Provincial Highway 2 in 1978, yet each node along it tells a much older story. Yehliu's honeycomb weathering and tafoni formations—sculpted by salt spray, wind abrasion, and differential erosion over epochs—produce the mushroom rocks and candle shapes that draw geologists and tour groups alike. The Queen's Head pedestal, a sandstone concretion now 15 centimetres thinner at the neck than it was in 2003, remains the geopark's anchor image despite projections that wave action will sever it within two decades. West of the cape, the route climbs into the Jinguashi mining district, where copper and gold extraction fuelled Japanese colonial industry from 1895 until exhaustion of the lodes in the 1970s. The Golden Waterfall, stained ochre by dissolved iron pyrite draining from abandoned adits, spills 80 metres down a cliffside forest before meeting the Keelung River. Its unnatural colour—a consequence of acid mine drainage oxidising in open air—creates a paradox: ecological damage rendered photogenic. Above the falls, the remains of the Benshan Fifth Tunnel and Crown Prince Chalet occupy the ridgeline, now absorbed into the Gold Ecological Park. Jiufen's labyrinth of stone staircases and eaved teahouses clings to a fog-prone slope 400 metres above sea level. Once a gold-rush settlement of 30,000, the town contracted after 1971 but revived in the 1990s as a weekend destination for Taipei residents seeking taro balls, oolong service in Qing-style parlours, and views over the East China Sea. The Shuqi Road market quarter, its red lanterns and covered alleys frequently compared to scenes in Hayao Miyazaki's *Spirited Away*, processes tens of thousands of visitors on peak weekends. Fifteen kilometres inland, Shifen Waterfall—the island's widest curtain fall at 40 metres across—anchors a separate ritual: the release of sky lanterns inscribed with wishes, a practice imported from Pingxi's Lantern Festival and now commercialised into a year-round activity along the Pingxi rail line. Packaged as a single yehliu golden waterfall jiufen shifen day tour, the route delivers geological spectacle, industrial ruin, culinary nostalgia, and participatory folklore in a span of eight to ten hours, with most itineraries departing central Taipei before 08:00 and returning after dark.