Jiuluzhai Scenic Area 九路寨

About Jiuluzhai Scenic Area

The name records how the place was reached: the settlement sits above encircling cliffs, and nine narrow winding paths were once the only routes in and out. The terrain is a mix of sheer gorges, streams and waterfalls, and the area is ringed by rivers that include the Zhankou, Tangping, Nanmen, Bawang and Luoguzhai. The Ju River, which Hubei Daily describes as the mother river of the state of Chu, rises at Huanglong Cave on the Bawang River, giving the site a link to the early Chu heartland that Baokang County claims as a whole. More than 120 individual scenic features have been recorded within the area, and Jiuluzhai is rated a national 4A-level tourist area.

Jiuluzhai is one of five national 4A-level tourist areas in Baokang, alongside Yaozhihe, Wudaoxia, Hengchong and Liuzhuya, in a county that lies entirely within the main range of the Jingshan mountains. Baizhu village in Xiema township adjoins the scenic area, and village households there have taken up guesthouse and farm-restaurant work as visitor numbers rose. Built visitor structures reported at the site include a cliff suspension bridge.

What to look for

• Huanglong Cave, where karst stalactite formations line an underground river and the Ju River has its source
• The named rock features Xiangbi Shan (Elephant Trunk Hill), Chuwang Peak and Lazhu (Candle) Peak
• The cliff suspension bridge strung across the gorge
• The Zhankou River valley, one of the several watercourses that encircle the plateau

Location & getting there

Getting to Jiuluzhai Scenic Area

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 九路寨 with 襄阳市 and 保康县.