Hailuogou Glacier Park in Luding County, Garze

Why is Hailuogou Glacier Park So Special?

  1. Hailuogou is one of the spectacular attractions in Gongga Mountain Scenic Area. As a national-level nature reserve, it is the only glacier and forest park in China.
  2. At the same time, it is a state AAAA-class tourist area and a national geological park. 

Brief Introduction of Hailuogou Glacier Park

Located at the lowest altitude spot around in Asia, Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park is an integrative scenic area consisting of modern oceanic glacier, complete virgin forest, as well as boiling, hot, and cold springs. Situated in Moxi Town at southwest Luding County, Garze, Sichuan Province, at the east hillside of Mt. Gongga-the highest among the mountains in Sichuan, this Hailuogou valley is 30.7km long, covering an area of 220 square km. it is 290km away from Chengdu, 76km away from Kangding, and 52km away from Luding County. Hailuogou is an important part of the national level Mt. Gongga scenic spot. And it is also a national level natural reserves, national glacier forest park, national AAAA class tour resort, and national geologic park.

Hailuogou Glacier Park is home to the miraculous hot spring of snow region. These hot springs, concentrated near No. 2 Campsite, are medical mineral springs of high quality. It is very good for people’s health in terms of medical care, no matter used for bathing or drinking. Besides Yanzigou and Yajiageng in the resort, there is also Hongshitan, another special scenery in Hailuogou. Looking into the distance, you could see that each rock is covered with a beautiful red coat and piling up along the river, thus forming a flowing red stream, which flows down with the clear water.

Best Seasons to Visit Hailuogou Glacier Park

Hailuogou takes on its most charming look in winter. The tourists flow volume reaches its highest between November to the following April every year. Abundant snow and quite a few sunny days allow tourists to see the most complete glacier and snow peaks in Hailuogou. When the temperature rise in summer, part of the glacier would melt. And when the rainy season comes, there would be a risk of landslide and mud-rock flow on the mountain road. In addition, it is also a nice option to visit Hailuogou in autumn. It is warmer in autumn than in winter and the snow mountains which melted in summer would reappear when the temperature goes up. At this time of the year, the primitive forest in Hailuogou are tinted all over and red leaves covering the whole place, forming a colorful landscape. Since the temperature in Hailuogou is much lower than in Chengdu all the year round, it is advised that tourists take warm clothes with you, in particular for those who want to pay a visit to campsites at high altitude. For those who love hiking, alpenstock and skid proof shoes are necessary.

Charming Tours of Hailuogou Glacier Park

Sacred Mountain Tour

The Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park lies in the core area of the Hengduan Mountains, and many of the peaks here are covered with snow all the year round. Gongga Mountain, towering 7,556 meters in altitude in the heart of Shangri-la, is reputed to be the “King of the Mountains in Sichuan. The highest peak of the Hengduan Mountains, it is surrounded by 45 icy peaks more than 6,000 meters in altitude and some 100 snow-capped mountains more than 5,000 meters in altitude. They are the highest mountains closest to a large city in the world. Viewed from afar, the Gongga Mountain looks like a huge pyramid, standing in a majestic manner amongst other peaks.

Modern Glacier Tour

Gongga Mountain is a place of China’s most maturely-developed modern glaciers, where hundreds of glaciers cover more than 300 square kilometers in total. Of those, the 16-square-km No.1 Glacier, stretching 14.7 kilometers in length with its end extending six kilometers into a primitive forest, is the largest, lowest-elevation modern glacier in the zone of the same latitude in the world. The glaciers coexist with forests and hot springs. They are accessible to tourists. Along these glaciers, there are ice lakes, ice pagodas, ice bridges, ice caves, crevasses, ice palaces, and ice castle gates, all glittering in brilliance. A huge icefall, measuring more than 1 ,000 meters in both width and height and consisting of numerous dazzling ice cubes, looks like a Milky Way running down from the heavens. Ice avalanches happen year round.

Red Rock Tour

Red rocks are one of the most precious gifts bestowed by nature to Gongga Mountain. Large expanses of red rock shoals are scattered in the scenic areas of Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park, Swallow Gully, Nanmenguan Gully, and Yajia Ridge. Clad with red moss, the rocks piled up on both sides of the rivers come to be a red flow that makes its way downstream alongside with the rivers, thus composing an amazing spectacle of nature.

Hot Springs Tour

Contrast to snow-clad mountains and glaciers, hot springs in the Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park bring constant warmth to the gully year round. Bathing in spring water, you will really feel the warmth brought about by the thermal heat from the bottom of the glaciers. Whether in the flower-blooming spring, the cloud-haunted summer, and the maple-leaves embellished autumn, or the snow-flying winter, the hot springs will make your mind fresh, clear and peaceful.

Primitive Forest Tour

At an altitude of more than 6,000 meters, the Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park area features diverse climatic zones and flora zones, home to more than 2,500 kinds of plants ranging from subtropical to frigid zones. Walking uphill along the mountain path, you can easily find the constant changes in vegetation landscapes, which vary from palm trees and green bamboos in the mountain valley to age-old trees and vast expanses of wild azaleas in virgin forests, and up to colorful wild flowers and lichens at higher altitudes.

Cloud and Mist Tour

Clouds and mist make the Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park a unique natural scene. In the gully, the precipitous cliffs produce deep and quiet valleys with clouds and mist above. The landscape in the gully is changeable all the time, like a fairyland. The sunset glow, Buddha light, sea of clouds, rainbow make the Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park more attractive. Sometimes the mist is like a piece of thin chiffon around the peaks and sometimes it moves swiftly 1, 000 meters down the cliffs, making the Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park more mysterious.

Culture and Custom Tour

The Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park is a habitat of the people of 13 ethnic groups including the Han, Tibetan, Yi and Bai who jointly created brilliant historical and ethnical culture. The colorful Tibetan and Yi costumes, Tibetan-style buildings, unique catering, straightforward Kamba men and beautiful Kamba girls demonstrate typical and unique cultures of costumes, catering, religions and marriage. Along this tea-horse south Silk Road, the simple Catholic Church (Site of Moxi Meeting), quiet Moxi, classical streets, Jinhua Temple, Guanyin Temple, Dinghai Shenzhen and other scenic spots and their development have illustrated the profound culture of the Conch Gulley.

How to get to The Hailuogou Glacier Park

Travel with ChinaDragonTours (top recommended)

If you want to get out of the traffic and hassle of navigation, you can book a private tour package that includes visiting, dining and transfer from us. Our local guide and driver will escort you to Hailuogou Glacier Park in Garze in the fastest and most convenient way and take care of all the details. You just have to focus on the visiting.

Independent Traveler

There are two alternatives tourists use to travel to Hailuogou. 

  • Bus from Chengdu: There are two scheduled morning buses that depart from Chengdu Xinnanmen Bus Station.  It takes about 7 hours from Chengdu to Hailuogou. Bus tickets cost approximately 116 yuan per person. Buses arrive in Moxi or Hailuogou in the afternoon. 
  • First travel to KangdingYou could take a plane or bus from Chengdu to Kangding. Once in Kangding, you can rent a car to Hailuogou. It takes approximately 3 hours. There are also buses.
  • From the Hailuogou entrance… Take the cable car (costing approximately 150 yuan per person) to Camp 4, where you can see the peak of Mount Gongga. Inside this park, you can take the tourist site bus that travels 30 km (40 minutes drive) to Camp 3. You can walk or take a bus to the Glaciers. The bus costs 70 yuan per person and takes you to a cable car terminal.

Useful Travel Tips

  1. Take clothes and shoes suitable for hiking. It is suggested you also take a raincoat, an alpenstock and a pair of gloves.
  2. Take some instant food or food with high calories, such as candy, cakes, and chocolates.
  3. Security should be emphasized for conditions in Hailuogou are much complicated. The elderly and weak are suggested to tour lower mountains only. Precautions should be taken for cold weather, avalanche, mud-rock flow, cracks on ice and oxygen deficiency.
  4.   Sufficient preparation should be done before touring the glacier park, otherwise it may be dangerous for the tourist; Following your tourist guide when traveling through the glaciers;

  5. Respect the local religious beliefs and customs.
  6. Lodging

    Moxi Township is situated at the entrance to Hailuogou. Tourists usually live at the township for one night. There are many hotels in the town.

    Gonggar Hotel (three-star) Tel: (836) 3266666, 3266677
    Changzheng Hotel (four-star) Tel: (836) 3266608, 3266526
    Moxi Hotel (two-star) Tel: (836) 3266188
    Hailuo Hotel Tel: (836) 3266296

  7. There are also hotels at No. 1, 2, and 3 campsites. It’s better for tourists to choose hotels with hot springs so that they can enjoy them free of charge.
  8. Foods
    Chicken cooked with Chinese caterpillar fungus, chicken cooked with bulb of fritillary, pork cooked with tuber of elevated gastrodis, bacon and wild vegetables.

  9. It is not recommended to visit there during “May 1st” and “October 1st” these two golden vacation weeks. Because at that time, the hotel reservation and transportation will be in its climax, the price will be much higher than ordinary times.

Nearby Attractions

Edited by Bella Ren/任新月