The Wuxiang Mountain forest trail

Route overview

The Huantianchi forest trail at Wuxiang Mountain, Lishui, runs inside the Wuxiang Mountain scenic area (Jiangsu Provincial Forestry Bureau, "Forest trails"). Route and sections: it starts at the main visitor centre of the scenic area, passes Wuxiang Mountain's Tianchi, and ends at Wuxiang Temple; it is in three sections, Ducheng Road, Caizi Road and the hundred-step stair. The line follows the mountain's existing paths and disused firebreaks, covers the main sights of the scenic area, and offers wide views.

Length is given in two places, and this entry sets both out without converting between them: the Forestry Bureau's "Forest trails" section gives a total of 6 km, while the scenic area's own website gives about 5.3 km and puts the end at Tianchi. The two differ not only in length but in where the trail ends, one source ending it at Wuxiang Temple and the other at Tianchi.

Along the way

Lakes. The trail passes more than ten lakes of various sizes, among them Tianchi and Wuxiang Lake (Jiangsu Provincial Forestry Bureau, "Forest trails").

Vegetation. Along the way are pine woods and the largest bamboo grove in the Nanjing area (ibid.).

Mountains and where the park's water goes. The master plan for the Wuxiang Mountain National Forest Park (2023-2035) records that Wuxiang Mountain stands at 209.8 m and Qiuhu Mountain at 279.8 m, both listed among the peaks inside the park; the divide in the park runs in a V, with water on the north side reaching the Qinhuai River by way of the Yigan and Lishui rivers and water on the south side reaching Shijiu Lake by way of the Xinqiao River or the Tianshengqiao River, and with Wuxiang Temple, Xiangshan, Qiuhu Mountain and the Taohuaba Reservoir inside the park belonging to the Shijiu Lake system and the Wangjiadian Reservoir to the Qinhuai system (Jiangsu Provincial Forestry Bureau, plan drawn up March 2024). The water the trail passes lies within this arrangement.

Practical information

• Mode: on foot. This entry is about the trail only and does not cover cycleways or camping grounds; the Forestry Bureau source says in so many words that it covers the trail alone.
• Start and end: the trail starts at the main visitor centre of the Wuxiang Mountain scenic area, passes Tianchi, and ends at Wuxiang Temple (Forestry Bureau source); the scenic area's website puts the end at Tianchi. Both are set out here.
• Sections: Ducheng Road, Caizi Road and the hundred-step stair.
• Length: 6 km (Forestry Bureau source) or about 5.3 km (scenic area website); the two are set out side by side, with no conversion and no splitting of the difference.
• Listing not stated: the scenic area's website calls the trail the second batch of Jiangsu forest trails, listed on 29 December 2022, but the Forestry Bureau's "Forest trails" piece carries neither a batch nor a listing date; no Forestry Bureau notice of the listing has been found for this site, so this entry states neither.
• Tickets, opening hours and parking: none of the sources carries them, so this site does not state them; before setting out, check the Wuxiang Mountain scenic area's own notices.
• The temple's name: the Forestry Bureau source gives the temple in its longer form, while the shared glossary records the shorter form of the same name; in English both come out as Wuxiang Temple, so the Chinese text follows the source's wording and this text uses the glossary form. Whether the two wordings are the fuller and shorter names of one place has not been established from a dedicated source for this site.