Infinite Mileage

The world-renowned Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is an AAAAA-rated attraction in China, offering some of the most spectacular and stunning landscapes on earth. We’ve all seen countless pictures of its magnificent quartz-sandstone pillars peeking through dense layers of clouds, or heard stories of how they inspired the other-worldly landscape in Avatar.

Yet, planning an actual visit to Zhangjiajie can be notoriously challenging. Detailed information is not widely available and China’s complicated National Park ecosystem can trip up first-time visitors, or even seasoned travellers.

To help you plan the perfect trip, this two-part guide will provide a comprehensive overview of the Zhangjiajie region, suggestions on where to stay and how to get around, instructions on how to purchase your entrance tickets, and a detailed step-by-step itinerary which will take you seamlessly through the Zhangjiajie’s most iconic and breathtaking areas.

---

Feel free to skip ahead to the actual itinerary if you’re already familiar with the basic details and logistics of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park: The Suggested Itinerary

Alternatively, visit Part 2 of this guide to learn more about Tianmenshan / Tianmen Mountain – another must-see scenic area in the region: The Ultimate 2025 Zhangjiajie Guide (Part 2 – Tianmenshan/Tianmen Mountain)

---

Contents

An Overview of Zhangjiajie

As the old Chinese adage reads – A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. As you embark on this exciting adventure, the first step that you take should be to demystify the Zhangjiajie region, where various names of cities and regions are often used interchangeably.

Key areas around Zhangjiajie

This annotated map visualizes the various areas relevant to your trip, within the wider Zhangjiajie Prefecture (张家界) – a large region in Hunan province extending beyond the National Park itself

Zhangjiajie City (张家界市) (1) is the main urban city in Zhangjiajie, home to the Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport and main railway stations – the likely entry/exit points for most visitors. It is also the gateway to Tianmenshan (天门山) (4), another must-see attraction covered in Part 2 of this guide.

Wulingyuan District (武陵源区) (2) is a small town about a 30-40 mins drive (local ride-hailing is safe, affordable, and easily available) away from Zhangjiajie City. This is the actual gateway to the crown jewel – the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (张家界国家森林公园) a.k.a. Wulingyuan Scenic Area (武陵源风景名胜区) (3)

When you see “Wulingyuan Scenic Area” or “Zhangjiajie National Forest Park“, you can assume that both names refer to the same place

How to get to Zhangjiajie

By Flight

Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport (DYG) is located in the middle of Zhangjiajie City. International flights operate out of this airport but apart from Hong Kong and Korea, international connections are relatively rare. Hence, if you’re flying, chances are you will be arriving on a domestic flight. On my visit here, I took a 2.5h flight from Beijing on Sichuan Airlines for about ~250 SGD.

By Train

There are two main train stations here – Zhangjiajie West Railway Station (张家界西站), which is a 15-20 mins drive away from central Zhangjiajie City, and Zhangjiajie Railway Station (张家界站), located directly in the middle of the city. Check your tickets (Trip.com provides a very intuitive and convenient platform for booking trains in China) and make sure you go to the correct station on your day of departure.

Train connections to nearby major cities are plentiful. For example,

• Chongqing (重庆): 2 – 2.5 hours, ~40 SGD for 2^nd class tickets
• Changsha (长沙): 1.5 – 2 hours, ~30 SGD for 2^nd class tickets
• Wuhan (武汉): 5 – 6 hours, ~80 SGD for 2^nd class tickets
• Shanghai (上海): 8 hours, ~150 SGD for 2^nd class tickets (if you really want to, you could)

In recent years, I have become a massive advocate of travelling within China via its High-Speed Rail (高铁) network, by virtue of its affordability, comfort, and the end-to-end ease of accessing this network even as a foreigner. Being able to book train tickets seamlessly via Trip.com, using only your existing normal account and passport details, has been an immense game changer for intercity travel for foreigners. I share more on this process in my China High-Speed Rail Guide (coming soon!) but for now – if Zhangjiajie is part of a wider China itinerary and you choose to travel by train, I strongly recommend booking your tickets via Trip.com. Tickets only open 2 weeks in advance but from personal experience, availability outside of major Chinese holidays is typically a non-issue

How to get around

DiDi Ride-Hailing

Accessible as a mini-program via WeChat, “DiDi” (滴滴出行) will allow you to book ride-hailing services across China. Before my trip to Zhangjiajie, I had some initial reservations – Would there be sufficient coverage outside major cities like Beijing and Shanghai? Would drivers be willing to shuttle between towns and/or “remote” areas? (in fact, none of the places you’ll be visiting in Zhangjiajie is remotely remote)

Fortunately, none of these concerns materialized. Whether I was booking a 40 mins ride between Zhangjiajie Airport and Wulingyuan District, a ride from a slightly more remote park exit during peak hour, or an 800 meters, 1 SGD ride within Wulingyuan (I did so multiple times in the interest of conserving my parents’ stamina for the actual scenic areas) – availability was almost always instant, and prices were always affordable.

Within the National Park, private cars and private buses are not allowed. Transport within actual National Park will be via designated eco-friendly shuttle buses along fixed routes, and this will be covered by your entrance ticket. I will share more details later when I discuss the layout of the National Park.

Where to stay

Wulingyuan District

Referring to the map above, after arriving at Zhangjiajie City (1), I suggest that you book a DiDi ride and head right over to Wulingyuan District (2). That is where I highly recommend you find accommodations, because the main entrance to the National Park is literally within walking distance to most of the hotels there.

The map below zooms in on the Wulingyuan District (2) from the map above.

This is a quaint and cozy town – hosting one of the main entrances to the National Park, an abundance of accommodation options ranging from budget hostels to luxury 5-star hotels, and a myriad of restaurants and shops, all within considerable walking distance.

The East Ticket Office / Entrance (武陵源标志门) (W1) serves as your main gateway to the National Park, and depending on where you stay, can be a 15 mins leisure walk from hotels in the Gaoyun Road (高云路) (W2) area, or a 3-5 mins drive from hotels in the Wuling Road (武陵路) (W3) area. Don’t worry too much about the road names because this town is small and only has a couple of main streets. Even on the ride-hailing apps, you’ll likely only be inputting the name of a few landmarks (including your hotel), or simply dragging the map around to place the pin.

Also, we will refer to this entrance as the “East Entrance” from now.

I stayed at the Manyuan Resort Hotel, situated along the little river that flows through the middle of the town. It takes about 10 mins – a peaceful saunter along the riverside before crossing a small bridge to reach the East Entrance. I paid about 350 SGD for a two bedroom suite, for three nights and four people.

The largest collection of restaurants and shops can be found along the main street along Wuling Road (W3) (note that Xibu Old Street is closed as of 2025, despite what maps may show), although there is no lack of options scattered across town.

Gaoyun Road (W2) hosts some larger hotels, the Charming Xiangxi Grand Theatre which hosts the famous Charming Xiangxi Show (魅力湘西), and other food options as well.

It’s a small town so it will not be challenging to find your bearings once you’re actually there. Once again, DiDi is an extremely viable way of getting around the city. Exploring the town on foot is quite enjoyable and therapeutic.

Layout of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

Now that you have a bird’s-eye view of the various areas in Zhangjiajie, it’s time to deep dive into the main attraction – the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. The National Park is made up of several distinct areas, each offering vastly different perspectives of the dramatic landscape. This map (borrowed from China Discovery) provides a fantastic overview of the entire park. Your entrance ticket will allow unlimited visits to all these areas within its 4-day validity period.

Map of key scenic areas

• Yuanjiajie: The most iconic area in the National Park, home to the towering quartz-sandstone pillars which inspired the Hallelujah Mountains in Avatar
• Huangshizhai/Huangshi Village: A relatively new addition to the park with scenic trails offering 360-degree panoramic views across various viewpoints.
• Yangjiajie: A less crowded extension of the park with rugged cliffs and narrow ridges.
• Tianzi Mountain: A large area (with its own food street and full-sized McDonalds) offering stunning views of countless peaks
• Golden Whip Stream: A 7.5km, low difficulty trail along the base of the sandstone pillars, offering views and perspectives which are remarkably different from the other areas.

How to explore the park

In general, this is how each day in your itinerary will look like.

• Enter via the Wulingyuan East Entrance (“Wulingyuan Sign Gate” on the map above), which is a stone’s throw from your hotel in the Wulingyuan District
• Take a combination of the designated eco-friendly shuttle buses/cableways to one of the scenic areas listed above, and explore the areas via trails and viewpoints. Rest, relax, and eat.
• Travel to another scenic area via another shuttle bus/cableway route and explore the area
• Before sunset, exit via one of the gates, and hail a DiDi (or walk) back to your hotel or restaurant in Wulingyuan District

Entrance Tickets

Disclaimer: The Klook and Trip.com links in this part of the guide are affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase or booking through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support. It goes a long way to keeping Infinite Mileage running – so that I can continue to write useful guides for you. Also, the Klook listing here is the exact same one I used for my trip in Sep 2025 so I can confirm that it works.

Ticketing and reservation system explained

• Entrance tickets have a validity of four continuous days, and provide access to all areas of the Zhangjiajie National Park
• Different ticket combinations provide a variation of an allowable number of rides on the Bailong Elevator and the various Cableways in the National Park, both of which are integral for getting around.
• Tickets MUST be purchased in advance, either through the official WeChat mini-program, or via a third-party travel agency (see below) – e.g. Klook or Trip.com. You can purchase tickets at the various entrance’s ticket counters, but you will be at the mercy of limited availability, so I don’t recommend this.
• Regardless of the channel you use to purchase the tickets, you MUST enter your passport information accurately because the automatic scanners will recognize your actual passport as your ticket to enter the park.
• Your entry timeslot and entrance gate for each day MUST be reserved prior to entrance, and availability can be limited depending on the timeslot (e.g. you will see a screenshot below which shows that the most popular entry timings are typically between 8-10am). You can make these reservations at one shot for all subsequent days.
• Reservations for entry timeslot and entrance gate can be done or amended via the channel you used to purchase the tickets, but I strongly recommend you to go to the manned ticket counters at any of the park entrances on the morning of your first visit to confirm/reserve your entry timeslot for the next few days, for a peace of mind.

Ticket combinations

There are 3 main ticket combinations for visitors:

1. National Park Entrance Ticket
   • 227 CNY (~41.2 SGD)
2. National Park Entrance Ticket + 1x Bailong Elevator + 3x Cableways
   • 465 CNY (~84.5 SGD)
3. National Park Entrance Ticket + Unlimited Bailong Elevator + Unlimited Cableway (Recommended)
   • 521 CNY (~94.6 SGD)

Prices above are from the WeChat mini-program as of Oct 2025, and represent adult ticket prices for the regular Season (March to November). At the time of writing, I was unable to get accurate off-peak prices but I would estimate those to be 30-40% cheaper on average.

For reference, the cost of each one-way tickets on the Bailong Elevator and the various cableways is between 65-85 CNY (11.8-15.4 SGD). The suggested itinerary in the next section will minimally require one ride on the Bailong Elevator, and three rides across the Huangshizhai Cableway and the Tianzi Mountain Cableway.

I strongly advise against the first option, unless you intend to spend only one day in the National Park or if you intend to skip most of the cableway rides in favor of long hikes.

Between the second and third option, I believe you would be better off choosing the latter. The cost delta between the two is not significant and for an incremental cost of less than one cableway ride, you gain the flexibility of having unlimited rides on the Bailong Elevator and all cableways within the National Park. This will be extremely useful because Zhangjiajie is a place where inclement weather is the norm rather than an exception, and you will appreciate the flexibility of being able to revisit the same places if you encounter bad weather. It is also a sprawling national park with many different iconic scenic areas, and you will revel in the flexibility of being able to backtrack or to wander away from your planned itinerary.

Now, assuming you’ve decided to purchase the third ticket combination…

How to purchase the tickets

WeChat Mini-Program (advisable only for people who can read Chinese and purchased a SIM card with a local +86 phone number)

Search for “Zhangjiajie” in the WeChat mini-program (小程序) menu, and you will find the Zhangjiajie Tourist Assistant (张家界旅游小助手) app.

Just to reiterate what I mentioned earlier, the app also reminds you (in bolded red font) that all visitors must buy their tickets and reserve their entry timeslots in advance

1. Click on “Entrance Tickets” (门票)

2. Choose your entrance gate and entry timeslot. I believe this reservation would only be for your first day (remember that the ticket is valid for four consecutive days), so on your first day, head to any manned ticket counter to confirm your entrance gate and entry timeslot for the subsequent days.

Also, from the screenshot above you can tell that in general, the most popular entrance timing is between 8-10am, and virtually nobody enters after 2pm.

If you intend to follow my suggested itinerary below, choose the “East Entrance – Line B” option, and the 7-8am entry timeslot. You will only need to enter the park this early on Day 1, to beat the crowd for the Bailong Elevator. Hence, if you’d prefer, you could swap Day 1 and Day 2 of the itinerary and reserve a later timeslot for your first day here, before going to the counter and reserving the 7-8am timeslot for the next day.

3. As discussed above, choose the National Park Entrance Ticket + Unlimited Bailong Elevator + Unlimited Cableway ticket combination.

4. Ensure that you input your passport details accurately, as the entrance ticket will be tagged to your passport number. Within the park itself, automated scanners at the entrances and the cableways will scan your passport to let you through.

Now, if you cannot read Chinese or for some reason, are unable (or unwilling) to book tickets through the mini-program e.g. if the app doesn’t allow you to complete the transaction without a valid local Chinese phone number, I recommend booking your tickets via a third-party ticket agency like Klook or Trip.com.

Klook

Booking your tickets through Klook will be easy – it’s fully available in English, you can easily access/amend your tickets via the Klook platform itself, and you benefit from an Klook’s established infrastructure and customer support.

The same ticket combinations are available on Klook, at this link – Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Tickets (Klook). Prices are almost identical to the official WeChat mini-program, and in fact, at the time of writing in Oct 2025, Klook seems slightly cheaper for the option which I recommend – the Zhangjiajie Forest Park + Three Cableways and One Elevator (Multi-trip tickets) package.

Assuming you are roughly following the suggested itinerary, follow the steps below:

1. Choose the Zhangjiajie Forest Park + Three Cableways and One Elevator (Multi-trip tickets)
2. Choose your date (tickets have a validity of four consecutive days) and timeslot
3. Choose the East Gate Line B (Towards Bailong Elevator) option
4. Input your passport details accurately (remember, your physical passport will be your park tickets)

Lastly, visit the manned ticket counters at any of the entrances on Day One to reserve/confirm your entrance timeslots for the subsequent days.

Trip.com

Similar to Klook, the same ticket combinations are available on Trip.com, at this link – Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Tickets (Trip.com), at almost identical prices.

Trip.com also offers many other combinations, including single cableway tickets, multiple attraction tickets, most of which you can ignore if you’re going for the “4-Day Ticket + 3 Cableways and 1 Elevator Transportation Ticket (Adult)” option

Assuming you are roughly following the suggested itinerary, follow the steps below:

1. Choose your date (tickets have a validity of four consecutive days)
2. Choose the 4-Day Ticket + 3 Cableways and 1 Elevator Transportation Ticket (Adult) option
3. Choose your timeslot
4. Choose the Multi-trip (unlimited trips) and the East Gate Line B (Towards Bailong Elevator) options
5. Input your passport details accurately (remember, your physical passport will be your park tickets)

Lastly, visit the manned ticket counters at any of the entrances on Day One to reserve/confirm your entrance timeslots for the subsequent days.

The Ultimate Itinerary

Congratulations for making it this far! We’ve finally reached my favourite section of this guide. This itinerary was finetuned with the help of my very friendly and professional hotel receptionist. Together with actual experiences and observations during my trip, and a fair bit of silent contemplation at night on how to design the perfect trip to Zhangjiajie, here is my suggested itinerary.

Suggested duration and weather considerations

Overview

• Day 0: Arrive in Zhangjiajie City via plane/train, head over to Wulingyuan by car, and check-in at your hotel
• Day 1: Full day at National Park: Yuanjiajie, Yangjiajie, and Tianzi Mountain
• Day 2: Full day at National Park: Golden Whip Stream, and Huangshizhai
• (Optional additional 1-2 days to buffer against inclement weather or to visit other attractions in the area)
• Day 3: Travel to Zhangjiajie City, and check-in to your hotel. Explore the city and get some well-deserved rest
• Day 4: Full day at Tianmenshan: Heaven’s Gate, Stairway to Heaven, Tianmenshan Summit
• (Optional additional 1 day to buffer against inclement weather or to visit other attractions in the area)
• Day 5: Depart Zhangjiajie City via train/plane

Wulingyuan and Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

I recommend a minimum of two full days (i.e. 3D/2N) here to experience the best of what Zhangjiajie National Forest Park can offer you.  

And because of the likelihood of inclement weather, if you can spare the time – you should spend the four full days here (aligning with the validity of your entrance ticket), to prevent any disappointment. Speaking to the locals, I learnt that two-thirds of the year is rainy or foggy in Zhangjiajie. On my trip in Sep 2025, the first two days in the National Park were completely clouded out, with decent weather only on the third day, where we then did a speed-run of what we were supposed to see in the first two days. Had we not had that additional day, we would have left Zhangjiajie with exactly zero views of the peaks from the top.

Additionally, if you had bought the unlimited pass, you’d be able to revisit any of the places you already visited, for free (whether due to inclement weather, or just because you really loved the view).

For Zhangjiajie City and Tianmenshan (Tianmen Mountain)

Part 2 of this guide covers Zhangjiajie City and Tianmenshan in detail.

Tianmenshan (天门山) is a gorgeous scenic area about 10-15 mins drive away from Zhangjiajie City. The entire Tianmenshan area, including the famous Stairway to Heaven (天梯), was way larger and more breathtaking than I expected.

Moreover, keeping in mind that you would most likely be entering/exiting the region via Zhangjiajie City, your trip should naturally be able to accommodate a couple of days here too.

I recommend a minimum of one day (i.e. 2D/1N) at Zhangjiajie City.

Complete map of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

This map was my north star throughout my trip – the only one I referred to while I was there. This high definition version, unavailable anywhere else on the internet, provides clarity on the layout of the national park, and charts out the must-see viewpoints and the key bus/cableway stations. The suggested itinerary will refer to this map closely.

Day 1 – Bailong Elevator, Yuanjiajie, and Tianzi Mountain

Depending on the season, there may be hordes of tourists whose first stop will be the Bailong Elevator. To avoid queuing for two hours, you should enter the park between 7-8am on the first day. (i.e. the earliest time slot). As a reward for waking up early, you will also get a headstart for the most iconic viewpoints before the tour groups start flowing in. On my trip here, I entered the park at 7:30am on two separate days and took the Bailong Elevator twice – both times, I queued for less than 10 min.

For all shuttle bus rides within the park, there should be digital signboards in the buses which will tell you which stop you’re at, but for the avoidance of doubt or if you don’t speak Chinese, you can seek confirmation from the bus driver by pointing to landmarks using the map above. Don’t worry if you can’t distinguish between the similar names of the various shuttle bus stops for now – the signs within the park will be crystal clear

Bailong Elevator (百龙天梯)

Enter the park via the Wulingyuan East Entrance/Gate (武陵源标志门), and follow the signs towards the Line B (Towards Bailong Elevator) shuttle bus. This will be a 20-30 mins ride along Suoxi Lake, which will take you right to the Bailong Elevator Lower Station (百龙天梯下站).

Once you alight the bus, you’ll catch a glimpse of the towering steel structure built into the side of a massive quartz sandstone cliff – that is the world renowned, glass double-deck Bailong Elevator (百龙天梯) which will ascend 326 metres in 92 seconds to bring you to the top of the cliff.

Follow the signs and after a few flight of stairs, you will reach the entrance of the Bailong Elevator. Alternatively, you could take a 2-hour hike to the summit but unless you have a week in Zhangjiajie, I would recommend saving the time (and stamina) for more breathtaking sights.

Once you exit the Bailong Elevator at the top of the cliff, spend a couple of minutes to savour the new perspectives (just two minutes ago, you were at the bottom of the cliffs). Next, take another shuttle bus from the Bailong Elevator Stop (百龙天梯车站) to the Enchanting Terrace Stop (迷魂台车站) in Yuanjiajie (袁家界).

Yuanjiajie (袁家界)

This is the most famous area in the National Forest Park, with the most iconic and dramatic views of the Avatar-esque sandstone pillars. The main trail is an easy, clearly signposted 1.5-2 hour loop (your mileage may vary depending on the quality and quantity of pictures you intend to take) around the top of the cliffs, which will take you through the best viewpoints in Yuanjiajie (袁家界). Food options are plentiful here, ranging from traditional street food to full meals.

Your first stop would be the Enchanting Terrace (迷魂台), the first of many postcard worthy scenes – with lush greenery (assuming it’s not winter) surrounding the countless sandstone pillars dotting the landscape. Depending on the weather, you may witness the ebb and flow of seas of clouds. Continue along the path, past several other vantage points which will present endless combinations of the majestic pillars, dense forests, and an endless horizon.

In the middle of the trail, you will reach the Heavenly Pillar (乾坤柱), the iconic standalone pillar which inspired the Hallelujah Mountains in Avatar.

Do take some time to grab a steaming sausage egg crepe/roll (蛋餅) or a hot cup of coffee along the way. If you entered the park early, you would have plenty of time to sit down at one of the stalls and watch the clouds go by.

Towards the end of the route, you will be greeted by the No.1 Bridge On Earth (天下第一桥), a natural stone arch connecting two towering sandstone peaks rising about 350 meters above the ravines below. It was humbling to realize that I was walking atop these prehistoric structures, predicated only on the probability that these gravity-defying formations would far outlast our fleeting lifetime.

The trail ends directly at the Tianqiao Stop (天桥车站), where you can take a 10 mins shuttle bus ride to the next area – Yangjiajie (杨家界).

Yangjiajie (杨家界)

The shuttle bus stop you should alight at is the Wulong Village Stop (乌龙寨路口站). Following the signs, a 7 mins walk along a slightly inclined path (upwards, of course) will take you to the Yangjiajie Cableway Upper Station (杨家界索道上站).

Here, you have a few options. Firstly, you could take the cableway down, explore Yangjiajie (use the map above), and take the cableway back up. Secondly, you could follow the signs and hike to Wulong Village (乌龙寨) – not a real village – and then back to the Yangjiajie Cableway Upper Station. Both options lead back to the Yangjiajie Cableway Upper Station, where you can continue following this itinerary. I estimate a full detour to take an additional 1.5 – 2 hours.

This itinerary assumes that you will take a short walk from the Yangjiajie Cableway Upper Station to the Natural Great Wall (天然长城), a spectacular series of ridges resembling the Great Wall of China itself (you can read about my experience at the Mutianyu Great Wall in this Destinations article on Beijing).

I was advised that this was the only must-see viewpoint in Yangjiajie. Hence, if you are short on time, head straight on to Tianzi Mountain (天子山) after this stop. If you choose not to explore the rest of Yangjiajie, there’s not much to do here. So backtrack your way downslope to the Wulong Village Stop (乌龙寨路口站), and get some shut-eye on the 20-min shuttle bus ride to the Tianzi Mountain Helong Park Stop (天子山贺龙公园停车站), the gateway to your last destination for the day.

Tianzi Mountain (天子山)

From Tianzi Mountain Helong Park Stop, it is a 5-min walk to the most important landmark in the whole of Zhangjiajie National Park – a full sized McDonald’s outlet. That said, in the 5 mins you take to get there, you could already be stuffed by the myriad of food options along the Food Street. i.e. Tianzi Mountain is the perfect place to comfortably grab a full sumptuous lunch

At Helong Park, past the McDonald’s outlet, you will reach two famous viewpoints – Imperial Brush Peaks (御笔峰) and Fairy Scattering Flowers (仙女献花).

Finally, spend a couple of minutes at the Tianzi Pavilion (天子阁), before backtracking past the McDonald’s, and turning right up a few flight of stairs. Follow the signs to the Tianzi Mountain Cableway Upper Station (天子山索道上站), and the cableway will bring you down the mountains in about 15 mins. From the Lower Station, take the bus back to the Wulingyuan East Entrance (where your day started) and exit the park.

This would mark the end of your perfect first day in Zhangjiajie National Park. Spend the rest of the evening exploring Wulingyuan, grabbing dinner at one of the many local restaurants, or get a foot massage to prepare yourself for the next day.

Day 2 – Golden Whip Stream, and Huangshizhai

Golden Whip Stream (金鞭溪)

The first half of the day will take you on a gentle hike along the Golden Whip Stream (金鞭溪), which runs through a deep valley along the countless sandstone pillars you saw yesterday. This easy 7.5km hike will take you about 2-3 hours and bring you up close to the sandstone pillars, but from a completely different perspective as you hike along the base of the cliffs.

Today, you will not need to jostle with the crowds as much so you can choose to sleep in an additional hour or two as compared to yesterday’s early start. Similar to yesterday, enter via the Wulingyuan East Entrance/Gate and take the same Line B (Towards Bailong Elevator) shuttle bus. Note that this time, you will be alighting earlier than most of your fellow passengers (it will feel counter-intuitive but trust yourself), at the Water Winding Four Gates (水绕四门) stop. This is where you will start your hike.

Grab a drink and some food from the various stalls in the service area before starting your hike, but I strongly recommend that you finish your food quickly because the wild monkeys… are real and fearless.

This hike will be almost entirely on flat ground, with a very clear and linear path throughout. You will see the sandstone pillars and cliffs along the way. A picture tells a thousand words, so I’ll give you a glimpse of what to expect through a couple of pictures. Of course, depending on the weather and season during your visit (as you can tell, my hike was rather gloomy because of the intermittent rain and overcast skies), your experience may vary.

As you reach the end of your hike after 2-3 hours, the peace and tranquility will slowly give way to increasing hustle and bustle as you converge on the Laomo Wan Large Oxygen Square (老魔湾大气吧广场).

From there, take a 5 mins shuttle bus to the Huangshizhai Cableway Lower Station (黄石寨索道下站), where the cableway will take you to the Upper Station in less than 10 mins.

Huangshizhai/Huangshi Village (黄石寨)

In my personal opinion, Huangshizhai (黄石寨) – also not a real village – offers the greatest reward-to-effort ratio in the entire National Park, where a casual 1.5-2 hours trail will take you to almost 30 panoramic vantage points of the surrounding peaks.

The map below shows the shorter loop in blue, and the bigger loop in yellow. I highly recommend completing the yellow loop, which will take you no more than a comfortable 2 hours.

Starting at the Huangshizhai Cableway Upper Station (黄石寨索道上站), marked by the red pin on the map, follow the signs for the larger loop, and you’ll end up back at where you started after 2 hours.

Unfortunately, I encountered very foggy weather while I was here. Although I sped-run the larger loop for the sake of completeness, I didn’t manage to catch any views in Huangshizhai (no seriously, it was completely clouded out). I will be back. Although, from the pictures I saw online, and from the signboards at each viewpoint, I can confidently assure you that my glowing recommendation of Huangshizhai holds true.

After making it back to the Huangshizhai Cableway Upper Station (黄石寨索道上站), take the cableway back down to the Lower Station, where you will be taking the shuttle bus in the reverse direction of your earlier journey, back to Laomo Wan Large Oxygen Square (老魔湾大气吧广场).

From here, it is just a 10 mins walk to the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park South Entrance (张家界国家森林公园门票站). Hail a Didi, which will get you back to Wulingyuan within 20 mins. This concludes Day Two of this itinerary.

Final words

To me, Zhangjiajie struck the perfect balance of adventure versus comfort, and wilderness versus civilization. I was always incredibly close to the natural wonders nestled within the national park, but never too far from clean toilets or a warm meal (or an ice cold drink, depending on which season it is during your visit).

Connectivity and directions within the park were extremely sensible, well-run, and clearly signposted, almost like a tiny self-sustaining sovereign country. Progressing through the various routes and different areas felt extremely satisfying and enjoyable, with a very high reward-to-effort ratio in terms of the variety and quality of the scenes you’ll see along the way.

The best part, is that even after you leave Wulingyuan and Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, your journey carries on…

Read Next: The Ultimate 2025 Zhangjiajie Guide (Part 2 – Tianmenshan/Tianmen Mountain)