Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is a must-see attraction in China. The dense forest is broken up by otherworldly sandstone columns stretching up to 1000 meters in height. It’s an incredible sight to take in. Everything you need to know about visiting Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is written here.
This includes:
- How to get to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
- What trails to take and must-see sights
- How much everything costs
- Great accommodation
- Where to eat
- Guided tours of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
- What else to expect from this unforgettable attraction
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park covers an area of 18.6 square miles (29.9 km) within the Wulingyuan Scenic Area of the Hunan Province in China. In 1982, this became China’s very first national forest park – and just one look is enough to understand why! Though it’s commonly known as Zhangjiajie, it’s important not to confuse it with the actual city of Zhangjiajie located one hour away.
Magical is the best word to describe Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. This park, mainly Zhangjiajie Hallelujah Mountain, is claimed to be the inspiration for the Hollywood blockbuster film Avatar. Ever since the movie was released in December of 2009, both foreign and Chinese alike have flocked to this amazing display of natural beauty.
Where is Zhangjiajie National Park located?
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is part of the much larger Wulingyuan Scenic Area, in China’s Hunan Province. This stunning park is unlike anything else I’ve ever seen before. It’s easily accessed from the city of Wulingyuan, which is an easy one-hour bus ride from the larger city of Zhangjiajie. The bus ride costs 20 RMB/Chinese Yuan ($4 AUD) per person, each way, which you pay on the bus itself in cash. The bus station is located right beside the train station in Zhangjiajie.
How do I get around Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Inside the park itself, included in the ticket price, is a network of buses that shuttle tourists around the many viewpoints of the park.
Walking is the main form of transport and even if you take all the buses available and the giant elevator, you will still have to walk a little way. But let’s be real, hiking around this fascinating feat of nature is the best way to discover and enjoy the amazing views!
There are a lot of stairs (you can skip a vast majority of them if you so choose) you will have to be comfortable with. Most of the trails are well maintained and even, but if you’re after the quieter paths, rocky and uneven tracks become more common.
Just in case I lost you, there is an actual elevator. Said to be the heaviest and highest outdoor elevator on the planet, the Bailong elevator behemoth stretches 326 meters up the cliffside. The sides are all glass so you can get great views of the surrounding Zhangjiajie park features. Yet, at 72 RMB ($14.50 AUD) each way, the price of saving a few hours of trekking wasn’t worth it for my partner and me.
For an alternative route, you can check out my guide to paths and viewpoints below.
How do I get to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park?
From the city of Zhangjiajie, the 1-hour bus trip costs 20 RMB (AUD) per person, each way. The bus fare is cash only and paid on board. This bus finishes in the small city of Wulingyuan. From Wulingyuan bus station, it’s about 20-minute walk to the entrance of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.
To get to Zhangjiajie itself is possible from many cities nearby. Chengdu to Zhangjiajie overnight train is simple, and the route that I took.
How much does it cost to visit Zhangjiajie National Forest Park?
Let me start by saying it isn’t cheap by backpacking standards, but it is worth the price tag. From March to November, the fee is 248 RMB ($50 AUD). If you are visiting from December to February, it’s much cheaper at 139 RMB ($28 AUD).
This cost gets you a 4-day pass to come and go from the park (within the opening times of course) as you please. I only visited for one day, so it was a costly trip, but if you visit over 4 days, it does become much cheaper.
If you would like to ride the Bailong Elevator, that is an added 72 RMB ($14.50 AUD) that’s not included in the entrance ticket fee. That’s not a return trip either, that’s each way. A lot of people were pilling into the Elevator.
Bailong elevator consists of three glass elevators. Since the 2013 upgrade, passengers travel at 5 meters per second. Taking 50 people each trip, the elevator can transport around 4,000 visitors every hour.
The good news for the shoestring travellers out there – myself included – there’s an alternate and much more rewarding route. I give a guide to below!
What to expect from Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
This will be slightly different for every visitor. But I’ll run down my experience throughout Zhangjiajie National Forest Park so you are ready for a few of the challenges of the visit.
First up, be prepared to walk. During my visit of around 10-11 hours, my phone calculated that I had walked 30.8km and just under 50,000 steps. Most of this distance was ascending and descending stairs built onto the sides of mountains. All the way up the sometimes uneven steps to the top of the cliff, only to go down into the valley on the other side. Then up the next cliff!
On top of that, it rained for around half of the day, so many trails were soaking wet. Even though the day wasn’t the best conditions, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is an unforgettable highlight of my travels throughout China.
As you can imagine, the inspiration for a movie seen by millions has increased the number of visitors to the already popular park tenfold. However, there are still trails where you can enjoy views all to yourself, away from the hoards of selfie sticks and the screeching of guide microphones.
There’s a rundown at the bottom of this post that details the trails I walked along and viewpoints that made this place so memorable.
What to see inside Zhangjiajie National Forest Park?
The main entrance to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is in the city of Wulingyuan. From this main entrance, you load into one of many shuttle buses for different areas of the park. We chose to explore the Yuanjiajie section of the park, taking one of the buses towards the Bailong elevator first thing in the morning to avoid the largest crowds in these sections.
If you choose to take the elevator, this is where you catch it to the top, making it a much shorter walk to see the national park’s most popular viewpoints.
If you choose to skip the highest outdoor elevator in the world, there is a very rewarding route. Follow signs to the ”Golden Whip Stream” trail. This is a very flat, paved path that winds through a canyon of towering sandstone cliff edges, crossing the river back and forth a couple times. At this time early in the morning, it was so quiet and serene, you could even hear the birds! Being so low in the canyon, it really puts into perspective how high the sandstone stretches into the sky.
After around an hour, a staircase section ‘Getting Together From Faraway” lets you split off from the Golden Whip stream route. This takes you directly up steep stairs along the Luancuan slope. After another hour of ascending, passing a couple rickety shacks, you begin to get amazing views of the canyon below.
Looking out you can admire the massive sandstone pillars and cliffs that make up the “stone peak forest”. This was one of the top viewpoints of the day. Along this section, my partner and I encountered 30-40 wild monkeys playing, eating and sitting around.
Once you reach the top of this stairway path you’ll begin to hear people gathering at the most popular lookout in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park a short distance ahead. From the “enchanting” viewpoint the path becomes much more crowded than the stairs.
To beat the crowds to the popular “Avatar Viewpoint”, “Hallelujah Mountain Lookout” or the ”Greatest Natural Bridge” isn’t easy. These sections are accessible via the internal bus network, so many who aren’t keen/able to hike along the other sections can quickly and easily come to these viewpoints. The path along the Golden Whip Stream is too far to beat people from the elevator to these viewpoints.
This relatively short section can take the longest because it’s slow moving through the large and loud crowds.
After getting our fill of the awe-inspiring columns of sandstone and thick, misty forest ahead, we headed to Tianqiao Bus Stop, where we caught a bus to ‘Three Road Junction’. This was the beginning of a 3-hour loop that was filled with steep stairs going up and down the sides of the peaks. It was exhausting but so worth the effort!
During these three hours, we encountered no more than 20 people. A massive difference compared to the most popular, easier accessible viewpoints of the national park.
Some of the highlights along this route were the viewpoints “One Step Closer to the Heavens” (depending on which translated sign you read) and “Corridor in the Cliffs”. The trails around here are much less maintained and are a little more overgrown, but still very safe to walk.
A few things to note about my time at Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
- The lines for the buses can be very long, especially at peak times of the day.
- Many Chinese visitors seemed much more interested in taking photos with my partner and I (especially me, due to me thick beard I was told). This seemed quite strange to me considering the background was the beautiful Zhangjiajie National Forest Park! One woman even insisted her baby be in the photo. Just me and the baby, no worries about the actual scenery right?! This happened around 30 times throughout the day! Not counting the not-so-subtle sneaky photos from
- There was quite a lot of trash, especially in the more popular areas, that did diminish the beauty of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park a little for me. Make sure your garbage is properly disposed of.
- I was naively expecting fresh mountain air, but there was a fair amount of smog during my visit. There’s not too much you can do to solve this, but just be aware heavy smog levels aren’t great for the air quality that you breathe.
- It was honestly exhausting. I was sore for days after the 30.8km distance covered today. Most of this distance was purely staircases. Still, entirely worth the pain and stiffness!
- While there are a few places to buy snacks and water, such as the Tianqiao bus stop and the popular viewpoints, I highly suggest bringing some something to eat.
Video on exploring Zhangjiajie Forest Park in China
This short video takes you through what you’ll see in this section of the Wulginyuan Scenic Area of China. If you enjoyed this post, don’t forget to subscribe to my Youtube channel.
Book your travels to Zhangjiajie
- You can take a guided tour of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. There is a number to choose from and you’ll learn about the area through a knowledgeable guide.
- For accommodation in the city of Zhangjiajie itself, I stayed at Hostel Geographer. Easy walking distance from the train station, cheap, comfortable and very clean. I definitely recommend staying here.
Note: The link above is an affiliate link. If you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you, I make a commission from the sale. Please, contact me if you have any questions at all.
If you have the time to spare, I recommend checking out other areas of the park, especially the Tanzi Mountain Area, which we were unable to visit thanks to heavy downpours of rain.
Where to stay in the city of Wulingyuan
Wulingyuan is a small city and holds the main entrance to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. I only stayed in the city for two nights, but I enjoyed Peakcap Hostel. It was clean and comfortable, but most importantly is a very short walk to the entrance of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. Meaning you can beat many of the other tourists to the first available buses!
The staff were also very willing to help you explore the park maps and recommend routes – even though at times the language barrier got the best of us.
Highlights of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
- The views were unlike anything I have ever seen before
- I loved the wild monkeys along the path.
- The quiet trails really let you soak in the beautiful scenery and allow you to appreciate it much more.
Further Related Reading
Have you visited Zhangjiajie National Forest Park? What was your experience like? What did you love/dislike about your trip? I’d love to hear what you have to say – leave a comment below!
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Thanks for reading!
Happy and safe travels,
Ben
4 Comments
Thank you for sharing.
Hey Tony, thanks for the comment!
Glad you enjoyed the post! Hope you have a great time if you visit the national park!
The bus between Zhangjiajie and Wulingyuan is only 13元 and the last one is at 6.30pm
Hey Sally, thanks for the update! Appreciate the good info! Thanks – Ben