Guozigou Valley Official Viewpoint 果子沟正规观景点

About Guozigou Valley Official Viewpoint

The county register records that the Guozigou scenic area runs the length of the northern Tianshan, that it is 28 km long and that it holds 108 gullies, and that in 1218, when Genghis Khan led his western campaign, he ordered his second son Chagatai to cut a road there that carts and horses could use. The gorge, the register records, takes its name from the wild fruit it holds, is known for commanding a transport route and is famous for its scenery, and has long been treated as a famous place in Xinjiang. The prefecture page records a second figure for the same gorge — a total length of 36 km — and describes it as the natural gateway of Ili and, since antiquity, the northern throat of the Silk Road towards Central Asia and Europe, carrying the name "iron pass". It records that bridges were first built there during the western campaign, 48 of them, and were rebuilt as 42 in the Qianlong period.

The prefecture page describes the gorge in sequence. Songshutou is its highest point, with Sayram Lake — also called Santai Haizi — just below it to the north, the lake and the gorge recorded as leaning on each other. South of Songshutou the road drops to the Er Tai forest farm through a winding, narrow valley the page calls the gorge's steepest part, where a high waterfall falls beside the road. Er Tai takes its name from a Qing military post and relay station; the page records five such stations from the gorge mouth to the Jinghe county line, and describes the grassland and timber houses at Er Tai as the best place for visitors to rest. Below Er Tai the mountains fall away and the valley mouth opens, with spruce, poplar and willow on both sides of the road. Inside the gorge, the page records, the peaks stand steep, with dense pine and birch, fruit trees, flowers, springs and waterfalls and a cool climate.

Xinhua records in a May 2026 photo report that the gorge lies in Huocheng County, is the throat of the Ili river valley and is known as "Ili's first view"; that after rain the gorge shows standing snow peaks and turning valleys with the Lianhuo expressway bridge merged into the landscape, which draws visitors to stop and look; and that the bridge was photographed with Sayram Lake visible in the distance. Its captions record visitors walking and photographing in the gorge, a couple having wedding photographs taken there and a wedding company setting up an outdoor ceremony.

What to look for

• The gorge itself — 28 km long with 108 gullies by the county register's figures, and 36 km long by the prefecture page's figure.
• Songshutou (松树头), which the prefecture page calls the gorge's highest point, with Sayram Lake just below it to the north.
• Er Tai (二台), which the prefecture page records as taking its name from a Qing military post and relay station, with grassland and timber houses the page describes as the best place for visitors to rest.
• The high waterfall below Songshutou, which the prefecture page records falling beside the road in the gorge's steepest section.
• The vegetation the prefecture page records inside the gorge: dense pine and birch, fruit trees, flowers, springs and waterfalls.
• The Lianhuo expressway bridge, which Xinhua records merging into the natural landscape, and the Guozigou section of the Lianhuo expressway, which it records crossing the Tianshan mountains.

Location & getting there

Getting to Guozigou Valley Official Viewpoint

Check weather, trail access and the last return service. A mountain or forest area is not one entrance, and a map’s central pin may be far from the trailhead.

• Search for 果子沟正规观景点 with 伊犁哈萨克自治州 and 霍城县.