Where should You Go Hiking This Weekend? Let’s Take A Look at Popular Mountainous Hiking Spots Around Beijing

The Yangtai Mountain to Miaofeng Mountain hike route traverses the Haidian and Mentougou districts, an ancient route which dates back to late Qing dynasty. The Goddess of Mercy temple on Miaofeng Mountain is a popular destination for devout worshippers throughout the century who marked out the well-worn route through to Yangtai Mountain. You can find all sorts of ancient monuments along this track. This is an easier and well-travelled path most suitable for most hiking beginners. Travel westwards from Haidian Bei’anhe Village, then follow a small path right up to the entrance of the Yangtai Hill Gardens. Go further up and you will reach the most famous temple in Xishan – Jinxian Monastery. Turn to your right to step on the ancient path that ascends to 1,100 m above sea level. Time needed for the entire journey is around 5 hours.

Like a green screen traversing the northwest of Beijing, the Haituo Mountain is a protected national reservation park. There are more than 6 hiking trails here, of which the “Shangbanquan Village – Dahaituo – Mount Song” route is the most classic route, bringing you closer to the wonders and excitement of ancient forest adventure. Shangbanquan Village is located on the southeast side of Dahaituo, forming a triangle on the map with Dahaituo and Mount Song. Commence on this part from China National Highway 101, then walk northwards for approximately 5km, where the hidden drain by the roadside becomes a stream. Walk through the shrubs and find the wondrous alpine meadows behind them. The summit at the top of the Dahaituo Mountain is a piece of flatland about 10km long and 500m wide. Much of the natural ancient and secondary forest is preserved here. Follow the path down the ridge from the Haituo summit and you will reach the Mount Song scenic area.

Known as the “Little Yellow Mountain in the Beijing suburbs”, Yunmeng Mountain is undeniably a favored haven of many outdoor enthusiasts. There are many hiking trails of varying difficulty here in this scenic area. One especially worth mentioning is the “Yunmeng Mountain to Yunmeng Valley” trail, which is the most classic 2-day trail. This trail has good conditions for hiking, and you can also set up camps within the scenic area. The trail begins from the waterway bridge, and follows the path of the stream eastwards into the Yunmeng Mountain National Park. The stream on this trail links up the landscape like a line of silver thread. You can play in the stream and enjoy the view of the spectacular waterfall in the summer period; come winter, this place becomes a playground for ice climbing activities. Here in the valley, there are 3 natural ice walls and one artificial ice wall to cater to your adventure preference level.

Gubeikou Great Wall is located at the junction of Miyun County and Hebei. It is an untouched section of the Great Wall, which retained much of the rustic wilderness of the monument, much loved by many outdoor enthusiasts. There is much wilderness to be explored along the trail. You can feel the upheavals and glory of the Chinese history through the unique magnificence and destitution that only the unrepaired ruins of the Great Wall can convey. From the Gubeikou section of the Great Wall, you can cross over to the Great Wall of the Longshan Mountain and the Great Wall of Jinshanling, and finally arrive at the popularly known Simatai Great Wall. At night, you can camp at the rather well-preserved General’s quarters near Gubeikou, and watch the stars as you lie on the Wall ruins. Watch the picturesque sunrise among the clouds of Jinshanling Great Wall in the morning. Continue your journey onwards to Simatai Great Wall. Along the way, you will find amazing landscapes such as the Sky Ladder, Sky Bridge, Fairy Tower and Wangjing Tower.

Wuling Mountain is located in the middle section of the Yanshan Mountain Range. It has been a Fengshui area restricted to the royal family in the Qing dynasty, and has been cordoned off for more than 260 years. It is the largest treasure trove of biodiversity in East Beijing. Wuling Mountain is also well-known in China and abroad for its “Impressive rose-tinted Foggy clouds“ with a beautiful scenery similar to the Penglai Islands of Immortals. This attracts many tourists to enjoy the scenery. We can climb Wulin Mountain from different entrances, where we can combine lots of hiking routes. The classic route is about 3 km from Dagou village along the mountain road to a valley called Dazhuang Mugou from where we can go up to the peak, Yuhuanding. This part of the mountain road suddenly slops, the forest is dense, and there are certainly challenging circumstances, but the scenery is the best. The next day, through the Lianhua Pond - Longtan Pond- Qingliangjie Scenic Area, at Beimen Township of Wuling Mountain we leave the mountain, and then from Beimen to Dagou Village and Miyun then return to Beijing. On the second day you can go down from the mountain on the other side as well, pass through Hukou, Longtan, Lianhuachi, Xianren Pagodas and 18th Lake, then you will arrive at the south gate of Wuling Mountain Scenic Area.

It is the ancient road of Jingxi, along the precipice, Xiufeng, and the deep valley. It will also pass through several ancient mountain villages from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so you can explore a little bit the taste of the remote places. Baiyu, the starting point is located 10 km northwest of Cuandixia, the famous and ancient folklore village in Mentougou District, about 700 m above sea level. The destination is Beilingshan Highway that is more than about 1800 m above sea level. In the meantime, we have to climb Beiling Mountain at an altitude of 2060 m. We can say we must climb upward almost continuously. This is a 2-day long trekking route. It is a medium-difficulty level in summer and moderate to high-difficulty in the winter under wind and snow-free circumstances. It is certainly suitable for outdoor-experienced backpackers.