China: Tiger Leaping Gorge (虎跳峡)
Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the most popular tourist hikes in China, and with good reason. First off, to get there you have to pass through the reconstructed old town of the village of Lijiang. Once you’re on the trail, a pretty painless transfer from Lijiang, it’s two days of easy walking in beautiful landscapes with plenty of good food and comfortable places to stay. The mountain views are spectacular, the conditions more or less comfortable, and even in sometimes-challenging China it’s pretty easy to organize and navigate.
Tiger Leaping Gorge: Overview
Total Km: 25km
Total Days: 2
Elevation Gain/Loss: 2823m+ / 2666m-
Start Point: Qiaotou
End Point: Walnut Garden
GPS Files
From Qiaotou to the far end of the gorge (where you’ll find a ferry to the village of Daju and a ride back to Lijiang) is normally between 10 and 15 hours of walking, and most people do it as a two- or three-day walk. There are plenty of places to stay and eat all along the Gorge, so you don’t need to carry much more than water and snacks as well as a change of clothes and light jacket to wear once it gets dark and the temperature drops.
For the main hike, the only really strenuous bit is the ’28 Bends’, a switchback that climbs for a while before leveling out in a leafy forest at the top. If it gets to be too much, there are generally locals around with horses and donkeys for rent. The rest of the way is pretty flat and easy walking, some of it occasionally dotted with touts selling water or demanding 10 yuan for trail maintenance fees while other stretches seem entirely devoid of human touch (a rarity for travelers in China!).
It can get muddy during heavy rains, with some small risk of landslide, so while you shouldn’t be overly concerned do pay attention to your surroundings as you walk. Especially on those moment when you’re walking across the flow of a waterfall, take care not to slip and fall as it is, after all, a fairly steep gorge and a tumble would not be ideal.
The biggest takeaway is this: there is absolutely no reason for a competent hiker to need a guide for this hike – you’ll barely even need the maps that are handed out at the ticket booths.
Tiger Leaping Gorge Stage 1:
Qiaotou to Halfway Guesthouse
Total Km: 16km
Total time: 6h
Elevation Gain/Loss: 1906m+ / 1406m-
From the bus dropoff in Qiaotou (a couple kilometers beyond the ticket office, generally, if you’ve taken the direct Qiaotou bus from Lijiang; the Shangri-La bus drops off along the highway and adds a few kilometers of road walking to the beginning), follow the village roads southeast along the curve of the hillside and towards the gorge. A few cutoffs allow you to bypass road switchbacks, but it’s a fairly boring 2.5km road walk to start until the trail finally cuts steeply up the hillside beyond what appears to be a small factory of some sort.
Climb for about a kilometer, gaining around 200m of elevation, until the trail levels off and turns into a stretch of forest. Continue along a peaceful forested section with nice views, taking a right at the obvious fork, all the way into a small village and Naxi family guesthouse. If you’ve not had breakfast yet (or just want a break), the family here is really lovely and very welcoming. Don’t eat too much, though, as there’s a big of a climb coming and a big meal might sit unpleasantly heavy.
The 28 Bends
From Naxi the trail continues through and out of the village, crosses the village road, and angles towards an obvious hill in the distance: the start of the 28 Bends. From the village through the bends and on through another small climb, the trail gains a touch over 600m of elevation in a little more than 2.5 kilometers. It’s nothing to be worried about, and in the high season there are often villagers ready to carry you up on a donkey for a small fee.
Carry on through pleasant natural surroundings past several nice viewpoints to a small village and the Teahourse Guesthouse. There’s a nice terrace and decent coffee here, so it can make a good stop. Carrying on, the trail joins the village road for about 1.5km, turning off again at a poorly-signed side trail. After a small bend the main road turns down and to the right, while the trail climbs slightly on the left fork; a little further on the trail descends to the right while the road climbs slightly to the left. Carry along the path to climb and fall gently along the slope of the hillside and through a small but attractive side canyon.
Finally, rejoining the road about a kilometer outside of Bendiwan village, carry into the village past a string of guesthouses. One of the originals in the valley and still the nicest is Halfway Guesthouse. The view from the rooftop terrace may be the best in the entire Gorge, the folks are pretty friendly, and the food is decent. If you don’t want to carry on further in one day, we very much recommend a stop here.
Tiger Leaping Gorge Stage 2:
Halfway Guesthouse to Tina’s Guesthouse
Total Km: 5km
Total time: 2h
Elevation Gain/Loss: 514m+ / 789m-
It’s easy enough to combine Stages 1 and 2 into a single day, though if you have the time to spare this is a hike that rewards a leisurely pace. Carry on from Halfway along the road out of Bendiwan for one kilometer, looking for a turn down along a trail marked for ‘Middle Gorge’. The views on this bit are some of the nicest along the gorge, though in recent years the additions of water pipes and power lines does mar the natural beauty somewhat. Carry through a succession of side canyons and a series of cascading waterfalls until you reach a fairly barren hillside. Just past a small gate it’s possible to stay on a high path all the way to Walnut Garden, but in doing so you’ll miss the river-level path below Tina’s.
We recommend descending to Tina’s, probably to overnight there if you didn’t sleep at Halfway after Stage 1, and then to take the low-elevation Ray of Sunshine path to Walnut Garden. Tina’s Guesthouse is something of an institution, in both the historic and antiseptic senses of the word, and it popular with tour groups. If it’s not your style, carry on just over the bridge to a handful of other small guesthouses just beyond.
Tiger Leaping Gorge Stage 3:
Tina’s Guesthouse to Walnut Garden
Total Km: 4km
Total time: 2.5h
Elevation Gain/Loss: 403m+ / 471m-
From the bridge beyond Tina’s, an obvious path descends from the bend in the road down towards the Jinsha River and the ‘Tiger Leaping Stone’, the point from which the mythical tiger who gives the gorge its name is said to have leaped across the river to escape a pursuing hunter.
The descent, at one point down a steep metal ladder, is actually fairly demanding. If you’re scared of heights or have bad knees give it a miss, but if you’re up to it the payoff is really pretty canyon views and a pleasant trail hike through to Walnut Garden. Locals charge 15 yuan for each of the ‘Heaven Ladder’ and ‘Ray of Sunshine’ trails, and a bit more to pose on various rocks by the river.
From the river, the Ray of Sunshine path climbs gently back up towards Walnut Garden, passing a small cave and bucolic farmland on the way. The final stretch up to Walnut Garden is a bit hard to follow – either cut directly up an access / irrigation channel to end up just opposite Sean’s guesthouse or follow the lower village road until it winds up near Woody’s. There are several nice guesthouses here – including the beautiful Tibet Guesthouse a little back along the road towards Tina’s – so it’s a good place to overnight if you want to savor the area a little longer.
Alternate Options for Tiger Leaping Gorge
Of particular note are the options you have to choose from towards the end of the hike. The biggest side route, near “Tina’s Guesthouse”, leads down to the point where in legend a Tiger once Leapt across the Gorge in flight from a hunter… this obviously providing the name for the Tiger Leaping Gorge area. From the rock, you can either take the ‘Heaven Ladder’ straight back to the area of Tina’s or continue down the river towards Walnut Grove until the ‘Ray of Sunshine’ path intersects the main road once more. This way is beautiful, but perhaps not for those with a fear of heights. If you elect to skip this and are returning to Lijiang, there’s little reason to take the road walk to Walnut Garden; just catch the bus from Tina’s.
Good To Know
There are no ATMs or credit card readers available on the Tiger Leaping Gorge hike, so make sure to bring enough cash from Lijiang to see you through the full two days (and a bit extra for emergencies, of course).
It can also get a touch chilly a nights, even moreso than Lijiang, so make sure to pack a light jacket to stay warm in the evenings until bedtime.
For more China advice pick up a Lonely Planet: China, for which we researched the Sichuan chapter in the current (2017) edition and the Yunnan and Tibet chapters in the next (Oct 2020) edition.
Getting to Tiger Leaping Gorge
To the trailhead you can catch a bus from Lijiang’s long-distance Bus Station, leaving for the village of Qiaotou (from 20-40 RMB). From the bus dropoff in Qiaotou, which is beyond the ticket office, walk a few minutes towards the village school where you’ll see signs/arrows marking the beginning of the hike. There’s also a restaurant here where you can grab a quick breakfast/lunch if you don’t have time to fuel up before leaving Lijiang. From Qiaotou you’ll start the walk, so it’s also a good idea to pick up any small snacks you want to have on hand in case you get hungry between guesthouses.
From the far end of the hike, at Walnut Garden, most tourists catch one of several daily buses back to Lijiang (ask at local guesthouses for timing and ticket). However there’s also at least one bus on most days heading in the opposite direction, to the Baishuitai Terraces, a small collection of natural travertines. It’s a hop-on-hop-off collection of public transport and there’s not much English spoken, so this option is probably best for travellers with a bit of experience in China.
Costs and Practicalities
Pay the entrance fee at the ticket booth just up the road from Qiaotou (entrance for Tiger Leaping Gorge was 45 CNY at the time of research, but it’s on an upward trend over the past few year so be sure to check in Lijiang before you go) and then you’re free to start the walk. Same procedure in Walnut Garden, if you manage to arrive from the opposite direction.
Where to Stay and Eat
In the Tiger Leaping Gorge itself, Sean’s Spring Guesthouse in Walnut Grove is a classic place to stay while Tina’s Youth Hostel (dorms from 30 yuan, rooms from 120 yuan) towards the middle of the Gorge is also conveniently located, particularly if you want to save the Ray of Sunshine trail for morning. Of all the options along the trek, we tend to think the Halfway Guesthouse in Bendiwan is the best of the bunch, primarily for the unbelievable views that stretch out from the rooftop terrace. Even if you don’t spend the night, stop in here for lunch or a tea. Like all the guesthouse along the trail, they also prepare meals for non-guests.
Back in the town of Lijiang, Mama’s Naxi Guesthouse is the longtime Lonely Planet standby but these days it seems to be getting pretty mixed reviews. We would actually suggest checking out the nearby Garden Inn Guesthouse instead, as the staff were incredibly friendly and the property was quite comfortable while still having an ‘old town’ feel to it that many others just didn’t quite capture. Outside of the Lijiang Old Town there are also some higher-end options if you’re looking to spoil yourself, most notably the Hilton Garden Inn Lijiang (which is also a steal on Hilton HHonors points).
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Have you been to Tiger Leaping Gorge? If so, let us know what your experience was like and any other tips you think it would be have been ideal to know before you set off!
I like hiking but this seems intense! The view from the top looks so worth it tho
I’ve heard so much about the Tiger Leepong Gorge Hike. This is some useful information
Thanks, hope you’re able to make it out there!
This looks like a great hike, with plenty of good stop off points! Thanks for such a thorough guide.
You are not kidding these views are amazing and I would love spending 2 days if not more hiking around the Yunnan, China Tiger Leaping Gorge! Love that it has a little bit of effort but still simple enough to do. Can you actually camp anywhere nearby along the trail or do you have to stay in one of the hostels or guest houses?
While in principle you could camp, there’s very little draw to do so here. For camping I’d head further into the Tibetan areas up north of here or even just over to the Haba Xueshan area for something a little more wild and with fewer settlements.
Wow, this looks like a great hike with outstanding scenery. I would love to stay overnight at either guesthouse!
This hike looks great! I have never done a hike in China, and I would love to! The views here are stunning. From your post it sounds like this could be a one for a moderate level hiker. Do you have any other suggestions for overnight hikes that would be good for beginners in China?
I’d say this is fairly doable for even a novice hiker – the terrain isn’t terribly demanding, and even if it is you can break it up into three days if necessary. There are three excellent long-distance trails in Hong Kong that are accessible by public transport, and some decent options across northern Yunnan and Western Sichuan as well. Lots of beautiful nature to choose from around SW China.
Wow, look at these views! Absolutely gorgeous! And the photo of the goats is so funny and cute 🙂 I do like a good hike, but have never done a multi-day hike before. Not sure if I’d be up for this one, but it does look beautiful!
Hikes like this – with accommodation and food available along the way – are great places to start with multiday hiking as there’s very little logistical coordination necessary. Plus this one is fairly easy hiking!
Wow, what a gorgeous hike. It’s good to know that there are plenty of places to eat along the way, that really helps lighten the pack. I was also comforted to hear that you can hire a donkey in some places if you’re needing a rest, that’s good to know.
Yep, makes it all very simple to just cruise along and enjoy the views.
Such breathtaking views while hiking which makes it worth climbing so much. I love such short treks which do not suck the energy out of me and I would certainly consider doing it, though I have not really trekked other than in India. Great post!
Hope you’re able to do it someday!
Wowza! The views for this hike look spectacular, I am not at all surprised to hear that it is quite popular. If we did it I would be tempted to do every single one of the side trails as I would be keen to see all the views.
p.s. For the elevation gains/loss, are the figures the highest/lowest points for each section? I guess that is what you meant…
Thanks for bringing more awareness to the natural wonders China has to offer.
I’m an international student in Jiangsu Province and right around this time, I was supposed to go on a school-sponsored hiking trip to the Tibetan region of Sichuan. Still so sad that it got cancelled!
Western Sichuan is one of the most absolutely stunning parts of all of China – I hope you’re able to make it out there one day soon!
I hiked this trail solo in late October. There were two others on the trail going my direction and a couple came from the other direction. It must be after busy season as the stalls selling drinks and snacks were empty. The views across the valley were amazing. I had lunch at one guest house and a beer further down the trail. Overall, the hike is not difficult and logistics were manageable even though I don’t speak Mandarin. The elevation is the only challenge but take your time on climbs.
Glad you enjoyed!
I know this is a few years old now but as you were saying for peeps with Bad knees (me) to avoid the Ladder part. What about the initial climb? I know now you can get a taxi up to Halfway guesthouse, of course this might ruin the conquering feeling of trekking but again trying to safeguard the knees. Would you miss much scenery if you started from the HH and missed the 28 bends and initial climb?
Hope you are well.
I quite like that section, but if your choice is to skip that or skip the whole hike then it’s absolutely still worth doing the rest.