Taihang Grand Canyon 太行大峡谷

About Taihang Grand Canyon

The area covers 89 square kilometres, running about 50 kilometres from north to south but only around 1.5 kilometres across, so it is a long, narrow strip rather than a compact block. The highest ground reaches 1,739 metres and the relief exceeds 1,000 metres. Vegetation covers more than 90 per cent of the surface and forest 80 per cent, of which around 60 per cent is old growth.

The canyon is rated a national AAAAA tourist area and is also a national geopark. Its character comes from high cliff lines, stepped terraces and rock walls, fast streams and hanging falls, and it is presented as a type example of the rugged mountain scenery of northern China. The name covers several separate sections, so it is worth being clear about which part a given visit reaches.

What to look for

• Taohua Valley, the section known for its pools and stepped waterfalls.
• Wangxiangyan, the cliff-walled section the municipal description calls the soul of the Taihang.
• The Taihang Skyway, the high-level road route along the range described locally as a hundred-li gallery.
• Xianxia Valley, another of the separately named sections within the area.
• The scale of the walls themselves: relief of more than 1,000 metres beneath a high point of 1,739 metres.

Location & getting there

Getting to Taihang Grand Canyon

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 太行大峡谷 with 安阳市 and 林州市.