Blue Soil Hills

Beyond Marlboro Country's grassy cattle ridges, a trail drops off the plateau into one of Sagada's oddest sights: a set of eroded hillsides where the soil is a pale blue-grey, powdery underfoot and bare of vegetation, cut into ridges and gullies that look transplanted from somewhere much drier. The colour comes from the mineral composition of the weathered rock - copper compounds in the clay are the usual explanation offered by guides - and it shifts through the day from ash-grey to genuine blue when the light is low or the ground is damp. The walk in is the cost: a steep forest descent of roughly an hour, and the same back up. Most visitors combine it with the pre-dawn ride to Marlboro Country for the cloud sea, then continue down to the blue soil as the morning warms. It is fragile ground, and the local rule is to walk on the marked paths rather than scrambling across the slopes.

Highlights

• The blue clay - powdery, bare hillsides in ash and blue.
• The Marlboro ridges - grassland and grazing cattle above.
• The forest descent - the steep pine trail down and back.
• The morning cloud - valleys still filled white at dawn.

When to go

November to April for firm trails; the colour reads bluest in low morning light and after light rain. The classic combination is Marlboro Country at sunrise, blue soil after.

Things to know

The climb back out is steep and hot. Guides are mandatory here and set the route. The soil erodes easily - stay on the paths, and expect grey shoes.

Nearby

Sagada's caves, Echo Valley and Bomod-ok Falls are all within the same day's radius.