Hikings Around Chengdu
Hiking in/around Chengdu
Chengdu is located at the Sichuan Basin and with its many mountainous places to explore to its west, here listed are the most useful and detailed hiking information of Chengdu Day Hikes. While exploring the city with leisure you may consider to take it further to explore more of Chengdu by foot. Included here are hikings to Mt Emei, hikings to Mt. Qingcheng and its Non-touristy alternative, Wolong Nature Reserve Hiking, as well as hikings to Mountains around Chengdu including Siguniang, Jiudingshan with detailed hiking maps, guide, trails, timing, hiking seasons, etc.
Where to Hike
Listed low is a map of the places around Chengdu that are good for hiking. The hikings range from the usual tourist parks including Mt. Emei, Mt. Qingcheng to the less visited Tea Mountain of Qingcheng, countryide of Chengdu including Daoming and Qingcheng Back Mountain, and from the wild trails of Wolong Panda Nature Reserve to the highland hikings of Siguniang Park and Kangding Hailuogou, and from the wild trek of Mt. Jiuding, Jiami Feng to the intense trek of Leduomanyin and Siguniang Dafeng. The hikings are basically 1 day or 3 days that are near Chengdu with a couple of hours or half day’s driving to get to. If you wish to go beyond Chengdu to explore further places, please contact us for more information.
1 - World heritage Site/Tourist Parks that are also mountains good for hiking.
The usual hiking places are Mt. Emei and Mt. Qingcheng. To hike at these places, you are visiting the famous tourist attractions that are also cultural heritage while enjoying hiking. Mt. Emei and Mt. Qingcheng are well-facilitated tourist parks that have paved walking trail with stairs and steps. Admission fees are required. Follow the links to read more about these two places to see if these are the hikings you would like to do.
Style: Tourist Park & Sacred Mountain
Distance: 10km-30km
Time Required: 1-2 Days
Elevation Btw: 800m-3000m
Route: From A to B
Views: Mountains, Forest, Monasteries,
Availability: All Year
Style: Tourist Park & Sacred Mountain
Distance: 6km-12km
Time Required: 1 Day
Elevation Btw: 800m-1200m
Route: Circuit
Views: Hills, Forest, Monasteries
Availability: All Year
2 - Non-touristy Hiking
As local people we aim to provide hiking tours that also go to non-touristy place that are also beautiful and wild, in order to provide outdoor-lovers to have more choices on hiking holiday. These hiking tours are for people who prefer not crowded places while still want to explore the nature and culture. Below are 2 example of this kind of hiking tour we provide, one goes to Wolong Nature Reserve and the other goes to Tea Mountain of Qingcheng.
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Style: Nature Reserve
Distance: 8-10km
Time Required: 1 Day
Elevation Btw: 2300m-2700m
Route: In & Out Same Way
Views: Mountains
Availability: All Year
Style: Hidden Monasteries
Distance: 10km
Time Required: 1 Day
Elevation Btw: 700m-1000m
Route: Circuit
Views: Hills, Forest, Monasteries
Availability: All Year
3 - Hiking by Nature Parks: Four Sister Mountain, Hailuogou Glacier Park
If you are looking for more adventurous activities then these 2 hikings should be considered. The walking to Hailuogou provides you chance to see stunning mountain views in 2 days' time. The hiking tour to Siguniang (Four Sister Mountain) takes you to explore the valleys of Siguniang with views of big mountains. Both hikings are on higher elevation with mountain and valley views. Both hiking tours are established hiking routes with flexible planning.
Style: Paved Trails
Distance: 20-36km
Time Required: 2 Day
Elevation Btw: 3500m-3900m
Route: In & Out
Views: Mountains
Availability: All Year
Style: Paved Trails
Distance: 12-18km
Time Required: 2 Day
Elevation Btw: 2800m-3700m
Route: In & Out
Views: Mountains, Glaciers
Availability: All Year
4- Go Beyond into Wilderness: Chance to see 6000-meter and 7000-meter mountains, no Kidding!
Chengdu is blessed with its suroundig mountains that give it plenty places to explore. The big mountains are just next door for you to hike. Hongya Ridge hiking and Yajiageng Hiking offer you chance to see the biggest mountain range of Sichuan: Minya Konka. Both hikings will require 2 days starting/ending from Chengdu and go to places over 3000 meters and even 4000 meters. These hikings are challenging hikings.
Style: Mountain Trails
Distance: 8-10km
Time Required: 2 Day
Elevation Btw: 3300m-3900m
Route: Circuit
Views: Mountains
Availability: Jun-Sept
Style: Mountain Trails
Distance: 12-24km
Time Required: 2 Day
Elevation Btw: 3800m-4300m
Route: In & Out
Views: Mountains
Availability: May-Nov
Style: Mountain Trails
Distance: 40km
Time Required: 3 Day
Elevation Btw: 3600m-4500m
Route: in & Out
Views: Mountains, Glaciers, Lakes, Wilderness
Availability: May-Oct
Style: Mountain Trails
Distance: 34km
Time Required: 3 Day
Elevation Btw: 3100m-5000m
Route: in & Out
Views: Mountains, Summit
Availability: Apr-Oct
Style: Mountain Trails
Distance: 10km
Time Required: 2 Day
Elevation Btw: 2800m-3200m
Route: In & Out
Views: Mountains, Gorges
Availability: Apr-Nov
Style: Wilderness
Distance: 6-10km
Time Required: 2 Day
Elevation Btw: 3900m-4100m
Route: In & Out
Views: Mountains, Gorges
Availability: Apr-Nov
Hiking Season
All seasons are good to do hiking and trekking in Chengdu. If you wish to do the more challengind trekking on highland, usually the winter is not available and some trails are not possible.
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Spring: March - May
This season is the spring time and often is the blooming seasons. When you go hike, you will see flowers. Unstable weather in this season makes it hard to predict the weather. You may experience rains and slippery trail while walking. And places like Hongyan Ridge, Huajian Ridge, Mt. Jiufeng will still have snow on the higher part.
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Summer: June – September
Summer is suited for all the hikings, it’s warm and sometimes hot. Mountains are at their greenest but it is also the monsoon season where sometimes there are heavy rains. While in the city is still hot but the hikings are all at cooler places.
Fall: September – November
Good season to do all the hikings, dry and good weather normally. Not too cold yet you don’t see much rain.
Winter: November – February
Winter does not usually provides good weather conditions in Chengdu but it is the dry season. And many of these hiking places are located at a much higher altitude with usually better visibility although some places may see a bit dreary color in winter.
Planning Ideas
The hiking places listed above are available all year round.
While looking at the time to spend on the hikings, you need to find out where these hikings are and how much time it requires to get there. The hiking places are basically located at the west, northwest and southwest of Chengdu. Places like Qingcheng and Emei there are easy public transfers to get to such as fast train and scheduled buses while the wilder places such as Mt. Jiufeng, Mt. Zhaogong, Hongyan Ridge there are no public transfers available hence you are recommended to hire a car.
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Around Chengdu:
Mt. Emei is 150km south to Chengdu. (2.5 hours’ driving from Chengdu, in total 3.5 hours if you use public transfer)
Mt. Qingcheng is 60km northwest to Chengdu. (1.5 hours to get there, 1.5 hours if you use public transfer)
Mt. Qingcheng Houshan is 75km northwest to Chengdu. (2 hours of driving and 2.5 hours if you use public tranfer)
Mt. Tiantai is 130km southwest to Chengdu. (2 hours’ by driving, 3.5 hours by public transfer)
Baita Lake is 55km west to Chengdu. (1h drive, no public transfer available)
Mt. Genxian is around 50km NW of Chengdu.
Heming – Wuzhong Trail is 75km west to Chengdu. (driving takes 1.5 hours and no public transfer available)
Mt. Zhaogong is 70km west to Chengdu. (driving takes 1.5 hours and no public transfer available)
Mt. Jiufeng is 110km north to Chengdu. (driving takes 2.5 hours and no public transfer available)
Into the Wild Part:
Hongyan Ridge is 280km west to Chengdu. (driving takes 4 hours and no public transfer available)
Huajian Ridge is 280km west to Chengdu. (driving takes 4.5 hours and no public transfer available)
Hongyan Ridge, Huajian Ridge, Mt. Jiufeng a hiking, these hikings require 2 days at minimum while the other hikings can all be down within 1 day