Discover Lijiang
Tiger Leaping Gorge
虎跳峡
One of the deepest river canyons on earth, where the Jinsha (upper Yangtze) narrows between two 5,000 m ranges. Day visitors walk the boardwalks at Upper Gorge; the two-day High Trail above it is the best-known trek in southwest China.
The story
What makes this place special
Tiger Leaping Gorge is the canyon where the Jinsha River, the upper Yangtze, cuts between Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain about 60km north of Lijiang. It is roughly 15km long and about 3,790m deep measured from river to summit, among the deepest river canyons in the world, with cliffs up to 2,000m above a river that is not navigable: four rafters disappeared here in the early 1980s and the first known successful descent was in 1986. Its name comes from a weakly documented legend of a tiger jumping the river at the narrowest point, around 25m wide.
What you’ll discover
Two different visits share the name. The road-level visit descends from a car park by staircase to the Tiger Leaping Stone platforms at the water, where the river is a loud, brown constriction between walls, and the famous sky ladders are bolted iron and timber stairs clinging to the rock on the way back up. The high trail is a 22km walking route on the Haba side, well marked, climbing through farm terraces, pine, waterfalls and a notorious series of switchbacks called the 28 Bends, with village guesthouses strung along it and the whole gorge opening below you.
A little local insight
Good to know before you go
- Decide which gorge you are doing before you book transport. The day trip from Lijiang gets you the river-level platforms and nothing of the trail. The high trail is a two-day walk, normally Qiaotou to Walnut Garden, sleeping at a guesthouse such as Tea Horse or Halfway.
- The staircases down to the river are the hard part of the easy version. It is several hundred steps down and the same back up, and the sky-ladder route out is exposed and charged separately by the local family who maintain it. Going down is optional; the upper platforms already show the narrows.
- The high trail is at 2,000-2,700m rather than extreme altitude, but the climb is sustained and the 28 Bends are the only genuinely punishing section. Start early and carry 2 litres of water; there is no shade on the Bends.
- Rockfall is a real and recurring hazard. Sections of the lower road have fallen into the river, and the trail can be impassable after heavy rain. Avoid the rainy season, roughly June to September, and ask guesthouses about current conditions rather than trusting an old blog.
- Guesthouses on the trail are unheated and get genuinely cold at night from October onward. Bring a warm layer even in summer.
- Luggage transfer between Qiaotou and Walnut Garden by van is standard and cheap. Walk with a day pack.
When to come
Late September to November and March to May: dry trail, stable weather and clear views. Avoid July and August for rain, rockfall and cloud. Start walking at first light to be past the 28 Bends before the heat.
Getting around
The high trail is out of the question for a wheelchair or a bad knee: narrow, loose, exposed and steeply graded for hours. The road-level visit is partly manageable, since vehicles reach the upper viewing areas and some platforms are a short paved walk from the car park, but the descent to the river is hundreds of steep, wet, irregular steps with long drops and no wheelchair route at all. A bad knee should stay at the top.
Worth knowing before you go
Check conditions before going: the gorge road is periodically closed by rockfall and landslides, especially in the June-September rains, and sections have been shut for repairs in recent years.
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