Wanfo Mountain 万佛山

About Wanfo Mountain

The core area covers 28.04 square kilometres, the largest of Tongdao's scenic areas, running south towards Jiangjunshan and north towards Ziyunshan. Wanfoshan itself is the high point at 635 metres, and from the top the ground below breaks up into close to a thousand separate peaks. The rock is danxia: red sandstone and conglomerate weathered into towers, cliffs, arches and hollows rather than a single ridge.

Hunan's provincial natural resources department singles out three features as the area's finest: Xianrenju, Sanshiliuwan and Tiansheng Queqiao. Together they show the three characteristic danxia forms of the massif, a cave, a gorge system and a free-standing arch. The county's own list adds further named rocks such as Jingui Mishi, Shenzhou Hailuo and Wangfuyan, so the visit is organised around identifying shapes from different viewpoints rather than around one summit.

What to look for

• Tiansheng Queqiao, a natural rock arch weathered out of a danxia boulder, with a span of 32 metres and a height of 15 metres
• Xianrenju, a large cave on the southern side of the mountain roofed by a single slab of faulted rock, its inner walls carrying relief-like markings
• Sanshiliuwan, a group of thirty-six similar gorges where danxia rock and old secondary forest interlock, known locally as the forest maze
• The 635-metre summit of Wanfoshan, the highest point of the core area, looking out over the surrounding field of peaks
• The bat cave north-east of Meijia village, about 1.5 metres high, 15 metres deep and over 70 metres wide, occupied by large numbers of bats

Location & getting there

Getting to Wanfo Mountain

Use an authorised visitor route. Cave sections, geological sites and access roads can close independently, so confirm the area that your ticket covers.

• Search for 万佛山 with 怀化市 and 通道侗族自治县.