Songpan Things to Do Tips by bellatrix Top 5 Page for this destination

Songpan horse trek

The horse treks out of Songpan are the highlight of Sichuan travels. The price is modest at Y65-80 per day, including meals, tents, bedding, cold water gear, and lovable guides. Even though you might feel somewhat less than satisfied with a short trek to Munigou Hot Springs, you definitely get your money's worth trekking to Ice Mountain. Treks to the isolated Falling Stone Mountain also come highly recommended. The two competing companies, Happy Trails Horse Treks and Shun Jiang Horse Treks are right next to each other and offer the same tours with the same high quality. Treks to Munigou and the Hot Springs at Er Dao Hai take two days; a detour to the Zhaya waterfall takes an extra day. The Hot Springs are actually rather cold (21°C), and the mineral pools that form the area's main attraction don't compare in the least to Huanglong's or Jiuzhaigou's, even if the 100m Zhaya Waterfall is quite beautiful. (Entrance fees to both parks Y33. Riding time to Muigou about 4hr.)

Treks to Ice Mountain take four days of hard riding (7-8hr. per day), but are the most awesome of the available treks. You can also trek to Huanglong (2 long 7-8hr. days of riding, 1 day hiking in the park), passing close to the snowline, but since bus service is convenient and several hours of riding must be done on the public highway, this trek is not very popular.

Directions: Both are located just outside the South Gate.