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Trekking / Western Sichuan hiking tour
Private hiking tour
Nine days across the full width of western Sichuan — four snow-mountain areas, two Tibetan farming-and-nomad counties and one glacier — walked in a line west from Chengdu and out again.
Ask about this itineraryThe Minya Konka range above the valley fog · the trip's longest horizon
Siguniang, Yala, Minya Konka, Lamoshe
runs all year; winter days are cold and some trails swap
the glacier night is the lowest, the grassland nights the highest
every walking day sits on a transfer, 1.5–5 hours
Why this route
Most Sichuan trips pick one mountain area and stay. This one walks a transect across the range country: the valleys of Mt. Siguniang, the farm villages of Danba, the nomad grassland at Tagong, the high trails under Minya Konka, and the Hailuogou glacier at the foot of Gongga Shan itself — 7,556 metres, the highest peak east of the Himalaya.
It goes to the parks, and then past them. The Tagong ridgeline and the Minya Konka west trail are horse routes above 4,000 metres where the day's company is herders rather than tour buses — the part of the range most visitors never reach.
It is a private departure, so the dates are yours and the shape can move: days, sights and the standard of the nights are all adjustable. April to November is the walking window; winter runs with some days exchanged.
The route
West out of Chengdu along the feet of the mountains, then south through the grassland and down the glacier, and home. Five overnight bases.
Day by day
Each day lists where you sleep, how much road there is, and what the walking asks. Distances flex with the season and with you.
Chengdu → Mt. Siguniang
An eight o'clock start and four hours of road into the mountains, over the Balang Pass tunnel near 3,800 metres, to Rilong at the foot of Mt. Siguniang. The afternoon belongs to Shuangqiao Valley: a park bus to the head of the 35-kilometre valley, then the boardwalk back down along the river under peaks with names like Mt. Abi and Mt. Potala.
Walk as much of the first 8 kilometres as you like — it is the best of the valley and almost flat. The pace is deliberately easy: the night is spent at 3,100 metres, and the acclimatisation matters more than the distance.
Mt. Siguniang
A full day in Changping Valley, the one valley at Siguniang with no road past the entrance. A bus to the lamasery, then trail: through the dead-tree flats of Kushutan, along the boardwalk to its end at Lower Ganhaizi, and on up to the open meadow of Muluozi directly under the mountain's north faces.
Horses are available for the first stretch if you would rather ride. Turn around at any point — the walk out is the same trail, and every step of it faces the mountain.
Siguniang → Danba
Three hours of road to Danba, one of the most distinctive Tibetan farming districts in the province, and the day's walk is a gentle one: the hillside village of Zhonglu, its stone houses and orchards stacked up a sunny slope below ruined watchtowers.
Four to eight kilometres of paths between the hamlets take in the best viewpoints including the No. 3 photo spot. The night is low, at 2,200 metres — a good breather after two nights at altitude.
Danba → Tagong
An hour and a half of road to the Mt. Yala park, a small bus to the trailhead at 3,750 metres, then the steep 3-kilometre climb — on foot or on horseback — to the lake called Yala Yumtso at 4,050 metres, directly under the glaciers of the holy mountain's north face.
If legs and weather allow, a pass beyond the lake leads to two more lakes at 4,200 metres and the best open views of the day. Afterwards the road runs another hour to Tagong, visiting the Huiyuan Temple en route when time allows.
Tagong
The morning starts at Tagong Monastery, the Sakya school's most respected seat in Kham, before the walk: a steep pull out of the valley, then a long series of rises and dips along a ridge above the grassland, with the Minya Konka, Lamoshe and Yala ranges all in view at once.
Around 15 kilometres and most of the day. The descent drops to a Buddhist academy at the far end where the vehicle waits. A gentler variant runs the ridge the other way, starting high and walking down.
Xinduqiao · Minya Konka west
Out of Xinduqiao and onto the horse trails on the west side of the Minya Konka range, walking the whole day in face of the big mountains — snow peaks, valleys and a lake at the turn-around point above 4,000 metres.
The exact route moves with the season and the state of the tracks; the guide picks the best line available for the views. Some sections are steep and the air is thin — this is the day to walk slowly and look often.
Kangding · Mugetso
Three hours of road to the Honghaizi lake at 4,100 metres, where the walk begins: past the big Mugetso lake, over a small pass, and down a long forested valley into the Mugetso park, where a bus finishes the descent.
Herders' tents are part of the day — visits are welcome when the families are in. An alternative runs the quieter Yele Nomba gorge if you would trade lake country for solitude. The evening is free in Kangding, a proper Tibetan-Chinese town.
Hailuogou
Over the Yajiageng pass at 3,900 metres and down to Moxi, the base town of Hailuogou. A park bus and then a cable car rise to Camp 4, the viewpoint for the great ice fall under Gongga Shan and the red-stone banks below it.
Walk as far as the glacier tongue and its ice caves from Camp 3 — about 5 kilometres return — and add the Grass Pond if the afternoon allows. The night is the lowest of the trip, at 1,600 metres, and the town has hot springs.
Hailuogou → Chengdu
Four to five hours of expressway back to Chengdu, with a possible stop at the tea country around Ya'an — the old tea-horse road country — for an hour or two before the city. Arrival is early enough for late-afternoon flights; the tour ends at your hotel or the airport.
Along the way
This is a mountain-and-culture line rather than a wildlife trip — but the country between the trailheads is alive, and these are the honest chances.
Tagong ridge · Minya Konka west · the 4,000 m days
Blue sheep are regular on the west trail and the ridge; the predators are residents of the same country and almost never met by daylight on this route.
Siguniang valleys · Hailuogou
Anyone whose real target is the mammals should look at the wildlife itinerary built around the reserves — this trip passes the same ranges without working them.
Chances are field estimates for the season, not promises. The animals here are wild and the route is above 3,000 metres throughout.
What's included
The walking, the road and the beds are ours to arrange; the table and the extras stay yours.
Arranged and paid for before you arrive.
A hiking guide, all nine days
English-speaking, from the Chengdu pickup to the drop-off.
All entry tickets
Every park and scenic area on the route, arranged ahead.
Private transfers
Your own vehicle for the trip, door to door.
Eight nights' accommodation
Twin share with breakfast, from Rilong to Moxi.
Arrangement and logistics
The plan, the permits and the people behind it.
Yours, or yours to ask us about.
Meals
Not in the quote; we help with arrangements, and Sichuan food can be tuned vegetarian or mild.
Airport transfers
Chengdu arrivals and departures are yours to book.
Optional activities
Horses, rafting and the like are paid on the day.
Single room supplement
A room to yourself is quoted with the booking.
Tips and personal expenses
At your discretion.
The route is customisable — days, sights and the standard of the nights can all move. Ask with the enquiry.
Enquiry
Tell us your dates and how many of you there are. We will come back with the season's best version of the route, and a written outline with a price.
Read next: The Minya Konka panorama hike · The Wild Sichuan in-depth hike, 24 days · Mt. Siguniang · The Kham year, month by month · The tea-horse road runs under these trails · The road days: passes and tunnels
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