Let's go...trekking & camping in Shennongjia Forests! The hunt for Bigfoot!

This holiday excursion is all about taking an awesome trek through Shennonjia’s  beautiful mountain forests (famous for their biodiversity), finding a sea of clouds, camping under the stars, maybe meeting Bigfoot ;), and more!   Get ready for some spectacular nature.

Story behind this trip:

Travelers Society is always looking for ways to ditch the beaten path so we chose Shennongjia a remote area in northwestern Hubei with heavily forested mountains with incredible biodiversity, including a treasure trove of more than 1300 species of medicinal plants. The name for the area roughly translates to ‘Shennong’s Ladder’ in memory of legendary emperor, Shennong, believed to be the founder of herbal medicine and agriculture.

As part of a more modern legend, Shennongjia is also famous for the sightings of wild, ape-like creatures - a Chinese equivalent of the Himalayan Yeti or the North American Bigfoot. The stories are interesting, but the creatures seem to be able to distinguish between peasants and scientists, annoying the former and evading the latter. Nevertheless, there is a small base station set up in the reserve with displays of ‘evidence’ of sightings. More real, but just as elusive perhaps, are species of leopard, bear, wild boar and monkey (including the endangered Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey) that reportedly inhabit the area.

The trek is a total of 48 km (summit at 2936 m) with 2 nights camping!

We will be trekking through beautiful mountain scenery…

...finding a sea of clouds...

...trekking though the birthplace of the wild golden monkeys (and maybe even finding some!)...

...camping under the stars…

..and more!!!

Day 1

09:40 – catch our flight to Yichang (Hubei)

12:30 – Pickup and head over to Muyu Town 

17:30 – Check into our wooden guest house

18:00 – Local specialty dinner (on your own)

Day 2 

Muyu Town → Colorful Village → Pine forest→Amitabha Rock → Amitabha Rock → Huang Fengling → Laojunshan [Altitude: 2936 m ] → camp  (25 km trek / 9-10 hrs)

06:00 – Local breakfast

07:00 – Start our trek through pine forests, rhododendrons, and over to Amitabha Rock

12:00 – Stop for lunch along the way

13:00 – Continue trekking through grasslands and head up to the summit to check out the sea of clouds

17:00 – Set up camp and have some dinner

• Accommodation: Camping under the stars!
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,  Dinner

Day 3 – Monday, June 18

• Camp → Primitive Forest → Muyu Town →Yichang → Back home   (23 km trek / 6-7 hrs)

06:00 – Campsite breakfast

07:00 – Head down the mountain through incredible scenery, waterfalls, villages, and listen to some local legends from our guides

13:30 – Arrive at Muyu Town and have a local specialty lunch

14:30 – Transfer to the airport to catch our flight back

17:30 – Arrive at the airport and grab a quick bite to eat for dinner

19:25 – Hop on our flight back

• Accommodation : n/a
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

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