- What it is Luodong Township (羅東鎮), south of the Lanyang River, the busiest town in Yilan.
- Getting there TRA train to Luodong Station. Buses from Taipei and the local lines use the Luodong Transfer Station (羅東轉運站). → Buses from Taipei
- Getting around The night market and town centre are a walk from the station. The Dongshan River line shuttle links the sights below. → Local buses
If you want one town for evenings out, make it Luodong (羅東). Spend the afternoon at the old log pond, then walk to the night market for dinner. It's small, only about 11 square kilometres, but it's the commercial heart of southern Yilan. The name goes back to the forest that once stood here, full of monkeys, which the plains Indigenous people called 老懂. Han settlers kept the sound. The town grew rich in the Japanese era as the end of the line for timber from the Taipingshan forests, and that history is still the main sight.
Luodong Forestry Culture Park (羅東林業文化園區)
The Luodong Forestry Culture Park is the old timber yard at the end of the Taipingshan forest railway, and the one daytime sight in town we'd send you to. Walk the log pond, find Zhulin Station and the old locomotives, and look into the forestry halls. It's free, the grounds are open 08:00 to 17:00, and the halls close on set weekdays, so check before you go.
Luodong Night Market and Zhongshan Park (羅東夜市, 中山公園)
Luodong Night Market wraps around Zhongshan Park in the town centre, on Minsheng, Minquan, Gongyuan and Xingdong roads, a walk from the station. It's the reason many people stay in Luodong, and it has a name as one of Taiwan's friendliest night markets. It goes back to a clean-up of the town's market stalls by the township in the 1990s. Head for Gongyuan Road on the park's edge, where the food stalls are thickest. → Yilan's night markets
NightMarket.tw keeps the market's opening hours, the nearest station and what to eat.
Luodong Sports Park (羅東運動公園)
About 2 km from Luodong Station, Luodong Sports Park is a 47-hectare landscaped park opened in 1996 and designed by the Japanese firm Takano Landscape Planning. Its theme is water, green and health: an artificial lake built to echo the Lanyang River, with a walkway across it and an island where egrets roost at dusk, a hill for views, lawns and sports grounds. Open all day, free, at No. 666, Gongzheng Road.
Getting there: it's the western end of the Dongshan River shuttle line, or a short taxi ride from the station.
Luodong Cultural Working House (羅東文化工場)
The Luodong Cultural Working House is the town's striking modern landmark: a huge open canopy 18 m high, with a gallery hung in the air beneath it and space for markets and events on the ground. Its materials and layout echo Luodong's timber history. Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00, at No. 96, Chunjing Road Section 1.
Luodong as a base
For anything south of the river, sleep in Luodong. The Dongshan River line of the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle runs from Luodong Sports Park through the Forestry Culture Park, the Luodong Transfer Station and the night market, out to the Dongshan River Water Park and the National Center for Traditional Arts, about 50 minutes end to end, with fares by distance. Trains go on south to Su'ao, and the road west leads into the mountains. → Su'ao · Sanxing and Datong · Where to stay
For the farms and the countryside, a scooter from the station makes it easy if your licence covers it. Jincheng Rental is by the station's front exit and Pang Pang Rental is a few minutes' walk away. With kids, the deer and capybaras at Bambi Land in Dongshan are a bus ride away: bus 281 from the Luodong Transfer Station. → Scooter rentals and licences · Yilan with kids
→ Where to eat in Luodong · Where to stay in Luodong · Yilan's other areas
Sources: Taiwan Tourism Administration, Luodong; Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, Yilan Branch: Luodong Forestry Culture Park; Yilan County tourism (宜蘭勁好玩): Forestry Culture Park, Luodong Night Market, Luodong Sports Park, Luodong Cultural Working House; Yilan County Government, the county and its townships; Taiwan Tourist Shuttle, Dongshan River line; Jincheng Rental; Pang Pang Rental as listed on Google Maps in November 2026; Bambi Land. Checked November 2026.