Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Chinese: 湖南张家界国家森林公园; pinyin: Húnán Zhāngjiājiè Guójiā Sēnlín Gōngyuán; lit. 'Hunan Zhangjiajie National Forest Park') is a national forest park located in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, China. It is one of several national parks within the Wulingyuan Scenic Area.
In 1982, the park was recognized as China's first national forest park with an area of 4,810 ha (11,900 acres). Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is part of a much larger 397.5 km2 (153.5 sq mi) Wulingyuan Scenic Area. In 1992, Wulingyuan was officially recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was then approved by the Ministry of Land and Resources as Zhangjiajie Sandstone Peak Forest National Geopark (3,600 km2 (1,400 sq mi)) in 2001. In 2004, Zhangjiajie geopark was listed as a UNESCO global geopark.

The most notable geographic features of the park are the pillar-like formations that are seen throughout the park. Although resembling karst terrain, this area is not underlain by limestones and is not the product of chemical dissolution, which is characteristic of limestone karst. They are the result of many years of physical, rather than chemical, erosion. Much of the weathering that forms these pillars is the result of expanding ice in the winter and the plants that grow on them. The weather is moist year-round, and as a result, the foliage is very dense. The weathered material is carried away primarily by streams. These formations are a distinct hallmark of the Chinese landscape, and can be found in many ancient Chinese paintings.

One of the park's quartz-sandstone pillars, the 1,080-metre (3,540 ft) Southern Sky Column, was officially renamed "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain" (Chinese: 阿凡达-哈利路亚山; pinyin: Āfándá hālìlùyà shān) in honor of the movie Avatar in January 2010. The film's director and production designers said that they drew inspiration for the floating rocks from mountains from around the world, but mainly from Guilin, Huangshan, and Zhangjiajie in Hunan province.

Transportation

  1. Depart from Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport
  2. Depart from Zhangjiajie High-speed Railway Station

    Ticket price

    • Single price: (including eco-friendly vehicles in the scenic area, excluding cableways, elevators and other means of transportation)
      1. March to November: 224+3, booking and purchase more than 10 days in advance (excluding 10 days): 182+3
      2. December to February of the following year: 144+3, booking and purchase price more than 10 days in advance (excluding 10 days): 115+3
      Annual ticket price: 298CNY+3
    • Free policy:
      Single ticket for children under 14 years old (excluding 14 years old).
    • Preferential policy:
      Half price for minors aged 14 (including 14 years old)-18 years old (excluding 18 years old)
      Remarks: The scenic area insurance fee is 3 yuan/person and is voluntary. The free and preferential policies do not include scenic area eco-friendly vehicles, cableways, elevators and other means of transportation
    • Ticket validity period:
      4 days

There are two main gates, one is Wulingyuan (武陵源 sign gate) and the other is Forest Park Gate(森林公园门).

Features of each scenic spot:

  • Yuanjiajie(袁家界): There are Bailong Ladder, Avatar filming location, many tour groups (the whole journey is 1.5 hours of hiking).
  • Tianzi Mountain(天子山): The scenic spots are concentrated, less time-consuming, easy and effortless, and there are many tour groups.
  • Yangjiajie(杨家界): Low development level, few people, few tour groups.
  • Huangshizhai(黄石寨): Independent scenic spot, few people, few tour groups, and long whole journey time (the whole journey is 2 hours of hiking).
  • Shili Gallery(十里画廊): There is one route in and out, and there is a ground rail train (half an hour of hiking one way, 1 hour round trip).
  • Jinbianxi(金鞭溪): It is much more beautiful than Shili Gallery, and the tour group will not walk the whole journey (the whole journey is 2.5 hours).

Tips: If time is limited, don’t stick to popular attractions such as Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain. The scenery on the mountain is actually similar. The scenery of Huangshizhai can be completely replaced, and there are still few people.

Recommended route for one day:

  • A (the route to visit everything)
    Enter through the gate → bus → Bailong Elevator → Yuanjiajie → bus → Tianzi Mountain → cableway → bus → Jinbian Creek → bus → Forest Park exit
  • B (the route to avoid crowds during peak season)
    Enter through the gate → bus → Jinbian Creek → bus → Huangshizhai (cableway) → bus → Forest Park exit

Recommended route for two days

  • DAY1:
    Enter through the gate → bus → Bailong Elevator → Yuanjiajie → bus → Yangjiajie → bus → Tianzi Mountain → cableway → bus → exit through the gate
  • DAY2:
    Enter through the gate → bus → Jinbian Creek → bus → Huangshizhai) → bus → Forest Park exit