3 Best Hiking Routes in Yinchuan

Suyukou National Forest Park, located in Mt. Helan Natural Reserve, is about 50 kilometers northwest of Yinchuan City. National Highway No.101 connects Suyukou with the downtown. If you want to take a bus to go to Suyukou, Yinchuan Tourism Bus Station is recommended. It's located at No.40 Donghuan Bei Lu (Donghuan Road North), Yinchuan.

In Mt. Helan Natural Reserve, you may go to see the famous Helan Rock Paintings. At present, thousands of ancient rock paintings have been found at the east foot of the Helan Mountain. Helankou, situated in Jinshan Village, boasts most rock paintings. The rock paintings show the life scenes of the ancient ethnic groups in North China.

Depart from Yinchuan and walk along the Yellow River, and you will get to the Qingtongxia Reservoir. Around the reservoir, there are three attractions highly recommended, including Ox Head Mountain (Niushou Shan), 108 Pagodas and Qingtongxia Bird Island. The Ox Head Mountain is a sacred place of Buddhism, located on the north bank of the Yellow River. Most of the temples on this mountain were first built before the Tang Dynasty (618-907). On the other side of the Yellow River, opposite the Ox Head Mountain, stand 108 pagodas. You can go there through the dam of Qingtongxia Reservoir.

Go on to walk along the Yellow River after a visit to the pagodas, and you will see the Grottoes of Shikong Temple (Shi Kong Si) and Gao Temple (Gao Miao) on the way. They are situated on the south edge of the Tengger Desert. 

Continue your trip along the river and you will arrive at Shapotou. At Shapotou, sand skiing is a very popular game. Finally, you can hike through the Tengger Desert from there.

Start from Yinchuan and go northwards along National Highway No.109, and you will reach the Sand Lake (Sha Hu), which is about 56 kilometers from the downtown of Yinchuan. The Sand Lake Scenic Spot possesses a large area of water, sand hills, reeds and lotus pools. It's a paradise for fish and birds. 

After visiting the Sand Lake, you may continue your trip and get to the Emperor of Heaven's Pavilion (Yuhuang Ge), which is the unique existing example of the ancient wooden-structure pavilion in Yinchuan.
 
Tip: If you can endure a long-distance hiking, you may go from Yinchuan to Baotou (in Inner Mongolia). According to the above itinerary, depart the Emperor of Heaven's Pavilion and walk northwestwards along the National Highway No.110, and you could enter Inner Mongolia. skiing is a very popular game. Finally, you can hike through the Tengger Desert from there.