Chongqing Black Mountain Valley Travel Guide

Chongqing Black Mountain Valley is a 5A scenic spot with beautiful natural scenery and unique man-made attractions. It is a must-visit place for tourists on weekends or holidays. Here is a travel guide to Chongqing Black Mountain Valley.

Black Mountain Valley, a national 5A scenic spot, is located in Heishan Town, Wansheng District, Chongqing, adjacent to Jinfo Mountain in Nanchuan and Baiqing Nature Reserve in Tongzi, Guizhou. It is known as the “Chongqing-Guizhou Bio-gene Bank”, “Southwest Shennongjia”, a national forest park, and a national geological park.

After reading such reviews online, I was impressed by its pristine nature and decided to go there for some fresh air. It was the May Day holiday, and I hadn’t booked tickets online. So I went out and saw that there was only the last bus of the day at the nearest station. This obviously disrupted my plan. I had no choice but to take a ride-hailing car.

After waiting for more than an hour, I finally got a ride. It usually takes an hour to get there, but it took us more than three hours.

Travel during the holiday season is really unbearable. It was just traffic jam after traffic jam. We arrived at the destination at noon, and it was time for lunch. We needed to replenish our energy before we could hike in the valley in the afternoon.

Looking around, the restaurant stalls at the entrance of the valley were full of choices. We picked one and sat down. As expected, the food wasn’t tasty, and it was also quite expensive. It’s unavoidable in scenic areas, so we just filled our stomachs.

We entered from the south gate and exited from the north gate. The online travel guide said that entering from the south and exiting from the north was basically downhill, making it less strenuous. It was indeed true. As soon as we bought our tickets and entered the gate, we saw a screen displaying an orange alert for thunderstorms. It was just bad luck.

Considering the scenic area was 13 kilometers long and we had to walk the whole way, how long would it take? And what if there was a sudden downpour? So after entering the south gate, we didn’t choose the 1.9-kilometer walking path for a leisurely sightseeing experience. Instead, we opted for the cable car. The cable car was 1 kilometer long and took 15 minutes to ride.

The cable car slowly moved forward above the V-shaped canyon. There were rugged cliffs on both sides, with lush green peaks. Looking down, at a large bend in the valley, was the famous “Dragon Waterfall” of the scenic area. The waterfall was about ten meters high, cascading down and splashing up countless water droplets. There were many tourists below, taking photos continuously.

From the cable car, we could only catch a glimpse of its beauty. While the cable car saved us energy and time, it also meant missing some views.

After getting off the cable car, the first thing that caught our eye was the lush vegetation covering the cliffs. There was also a large cave in the mountain without a road. The 97% coverage rate was truly impressive. Standing there, we felt a coolness and fresh air. We continued walking down along the path. At this moment, we were full of energy and refreshed, but the only drawback was that there were too many people during the holiday, making the path crowded and diminishing the sense of closeness to nature.

Despite this, it couldn’t dampen our enthusiasm. Along the winding path, there were verdant forests, cascading waterfalls, and babbling streams. The fish in the stream were enjoying the abundant resources, leisurely swimming through this picturesque scenery.

This section of the path had the highest concentration and richest content of negative oxygen ions. So even with the crowded crowd, we had to find a spot to take a deep breath and relax.

Unbeknownst to us, we had already passed countless large and small waterfalls. We couldn’t remember all their names, but the most impressive one was called “Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl”. On either side of a large, moss-covered rock with a round shape, flowed two white streams, truly resembling two white dragons vying for this green pearl.

Continuing our journey, there was a wooden house called “Rice Cake House” on the path. Beside the house, there was a large waterwheel in the river. Red lanterns hung from the beams, making it look particularly festive and bright against the green mountains and waters. It was a place for people to take a short break. As the name suggests, rice cakes were available for purchase.

Due to the large crowd, we didn’t bother to buy them, but continued on our way. Following the river down, we entered the famous “Ten-Mile Canyon”. The canyon was perilous and secluded, with towering cliffs on both sides. Lush vegetation covered the entire cliff, which had a significant drop. After reaching the end of the cliff, there was another waterfall, the “Flying Fish Waterfall”.

The waterfall cascaded down from a hundred-meter cliff, directly hitting a triangular giant rock below, forming a fishtail. The spray from the fishtail rose upwards, creating a mist that made it look particularly spectacular and beautiful. Just as I was about to take out my phone to take a picture, the rain came as expected.

The rain quickly intensified, and many tourists panicked, running forward. Some clung to the cliffs, trying to avoid the rain. Some with children and elderly people found it even more difficult to walk. Therefore, those taking elderly people and children out must take preventive measures beforehand.

The two of us were barely able to manage with only one umbrella. We walked as far as we could, knowing that the journey was still far ahead. People were selling raincoats ahead, and they were quickly snapped up.

Large plastic bags from shops were also bought by tourists to use as rain shields. The rain was too heavy. We were both holding one umbrella, and our clothes, pants, and shoes were already wet. Groups of people hurried along, even jogging, without the mood to admire the surrounding scenery.

At this point, we had entered the “Chongqing-Guizhou Grand Canyon”. This was the boundary between Chongqing and Guizhou. There were also many suspension bridges and pontoon bridges waiting for us. In this stormy weather, it was easy to imagine the sight of groups of people on the bridges. We would be swaying back and forth between Chongqing and Guizhou as we moved forward.

We were afraid that if we weren’t careful, the bridge might collapse and we would fall into the merciless river. Thankfully, the bridges were sturdy. We passed through countless suspension bridges and pontoon bridges, but we made it through all of them, even though the process was difficult, dangerous, and somewhat thrilling.

There were still some beautiful views between these suspension bridges and pontoon bridges, such as the “Dream Veil Waterfall”, “Camel Peak”, “Carp River Rafting Area”, “Monkey King Cave”, and so on. Due to the weather, we could only take a quick glance at them.

What was funny was that at the entrance to the Monkey King Cave, it wasn’t the local black-leaf monkeys that gathered, but a bunch of “evolved beings” taking shelter from the rain. This scene made groups of tourists, who were enjoying themselves in the rain, laugh continuously.

Exiting the Chongqing-Guizhou Grand Canyon, a corridor bridge called “Chongqing-Guizhou Boundary Bridge” marked the end of the canyon. The rain was gradually subsiding. There was a small stall by the bridge selling all sorts of snacks. We had walked so far and were a little hungry, so we bought a local sausage and corn cob and sat down on the corridor bridge to rest for a while.

Finally, we passed a “Carp River Suspension Bridge”. Not far away was the electric car station. The weather had completely cleared by now. We had already walked six kilometers of paths and pontoon bridges. The remaining six kilometers, we planned to take an electric car and end our trip.

However, when we arrived at the station, it was packed with people. The queue for buying tickets was endless. A staff member pointed upwards and shouted, “If you queue here, you might have already walked out. Those walking should go up from here.”

Looking at this scene, we had no patience to wait. It was all because of the holiday travel. We had no choice but to grit our teeth and walk the remaining six kilometers. As we walked along the path, it was no longer the usual paths, pontoon bridges, and suspension bridges, but a quiet mountain path. Besides the birdsong and the sound of the stream, the only other sound was the electric car coming and going.

Those walking alongside us were all walking quietly, occasionally exchanging a few words. Perhaps the journey of more than ten kilometers had made everyone a little tired.

We walked and stopped, enjoying the fresh air after the rain. We watched the mist drift and rise slowly in the valley. At this moment, the glow of the setting sun mixed with the fog, creating a red mist that enveloped the entire mountain. The green branches, bathed in the rain, seemed even more graceful and varied. The entire valley was pristine and rejuvenated, and our moods soared with it.

We walked until we reached the north gate, the end of our journey. It was getting late, and it was already past six in the evening. We had been on our feet for more than five hours. We quickly bought tickets for the scenic area’s tourist bus and headed to the Valley Visitor Center, ready to head home.

For convenience, we called a ride-hailing car. We got on the bus at seven o’clock, and we didn’t get home until one in the morning. The return journey was also very congested.

The only downsides of this trip to the valley were the crowds and the thunderstorm. Otherwise, we would have had a more pristine sightseeing experience. The noise of the crowd ruined the tranquility of the valley, and the thunderstorm made us miss out on more beautiful views and fewer photo opportunities.

According to the introduction, Black Mountain Valley consists of over 200 scenic spots, including mountains, peaks, gorges, cliffs, forests, seas of trees, waterfalls, blue waters, caves, paths, pontoon bridges, seas of clouds, farmland, primitive vegetation, and rare plants and animals.

Due to objective reasons, we could only take a glimpse of the valley during this trip. Therefore, we recommend choosing a good day and avoiding the holiday season so that you can fully immerse yourself in the embrace of nature and enjoy the abundance of pristine resources.

If you want to experience the wonders of karst landforms and enjoy the fresh air amidst the green mountains and waters, it is definitely worth a visit.