The best preserved part of Ancient Shu Roads is some sections of Jinniu Ancient Roads, among which is the Cuiyunlang part that has been preserved the best. Hiking is the best way of feeling the history of Ancient Shu Roads and learn the stories of Three Kingdoms. Here we have the most detailed travel guide for a hiking trip to Ancient Shu Roads.
Most part of the good hiking are under good maintenance and some have ups and downs while the other are quite gradual. Hiking the Ancient Shu Roads will need to involve using transfer because they are not all connected but rather cut off by modern constructions, etc. A hiking trip to Ancient Shu Roads will require multiple days but can stay in hotels.
All four seasons are good to do Ancient Shu Roads hiking. There are no dangerous parts or sections of the roads/trails that will be closed due to certain seasons. The most popular seasons to do this hiking is from Spring to Autumn. Spring will see less people and in summer some parts may get busy especially the well-preserved parts such as Cuiyunlang Park and Lanmaqiang. Another issue with summer hiking is the temperature may be high at around 30-35C. Autumn is a good season to do hiking in Ancient Shu Roads. And winter though not a popular travel season but a very quiet and also good season to do the hiking.
Ancient Shu Roads hiking can not be done in a day’s time from Chengdu. The nearest part of the good hiking of Ancient Shu Roads are in Guangyuan, which is located nearly 300km northeast to the city of Chengdu. One will need to plan for multi-day for a hiking trip to Shu Roads. And one will also need to hire private transfers to get to the hiking places and from the hiking places each day because some places are too far from any bus/train stations.
The good hiking sections/parts of Ancient Shu Roads include the following. (From North to South)
Part 01: from Zhaohua Ancient Town to Jianmenguan Fortress total 27km of which the best part from Zhaohua to Dachaoyi is around 16km, of which some sections in between can be replaced by car drive.
Part 02: from Hanyangzhen to Pu’Anzhen total 14km of which the best part from Hanyangzhent to Chaoshoupu is around 8km non-stop good and well-preserved Ancient Shu Roads.
Part 03: from Pu’Anzhen to Liugouzhen total 16km of which the best part from Pu’an to Lanmaqiang is around 7km non-stop well-preserved Ancient Shu Roads.
Lanmaqiang and Hanyangzhen to Chaoshoupu are considered to be the real and the best part of Ancient Shu Roads to hike.
The places to plan for overnight stay is in Jian’Ge, Guanyuan City or Zhaohua Old Town. Around the hikings there are not many options for place to stay overnight. Normally the best place to stay overnight for foreigners is Jian’Ge, a town 10km north to Jianmenguan Fortress. If you wish to do Tianxiong Pass hiking then you may also include Zhaohua Old Town and then stay there since they are just next to each other. If you with to include Minyue Gorge then you may also choose to stay in Guangyuan City where you will have plenty of options on hotels.
For food you may not have as many options while hiking since most hikings are in the countryside. You are recommended to pack lunch with you while hiking the Ancient Shu Roads. During busy travel season you may find places to eat food in places such as Jianmenguan and Cuiyulang park.
We strongly recommend you to do a guided hike for Ancient Shu Roads because the starting places and ending places of some hikes are difficult to locate and there has been a lot of re-built of the trails and re-construction of the villages/towns where the ending/starting of some routes are. The rebuilding of the Ancient Shu Roads have been going through changes all the time. And if you don’t speak mandarin, most local people don’t speak English.
And you will definitely need a transfer for your Ancient Shu Roads hiking trip because most starting and ending places of the hikes are in small places and even local taxis may not know where they are. Even if you stay on the usual Ancient Shu sites such as Jianmenguan or Cuiyunlang Park, the public transportation may still be inconvenient especially during low travel seasons.
Sichuan Travel Guide offers guided hiking and other tours to Ancient Shu Roads with experienced guide.
Jacket, Base Layer, Walking Poles, Hat, Sunglasses, Hiking Shoes, Sun Cream, Rainproof, Sun hat, Day Pack, Water bottle, lunches, personal medicines.
High Temperature in Summer
If you are doing this hiking in prime summer time, then prepare items to cope with high temperature(35C or above) such as enough drinking water, sun hat. The hottest season in Ancient Shu Roads is from July to August.
Dog Hazard
Some villages around the Ancient Shu Roads may see dogs but overall are good dogs but it’s still possible you may see some mean dogs.
The risk of getting lost, fall, passing dangerous sections are very low. Please also prepare insect spray if you are traveling in summer season.
