Jinshanling Great Wall

Walk all of the eastern section of Jinshanling; hike a few towers of Simatai and maybe get a little look at what they’re doing over there (still not open!); and follow a paved park trail through the hills to finish

Level 3
Approx. 3 hours of hiking over around 6km. (Can I do it?)

This hike is not currently scheduled

Contact us for schedule updates or set up a private hike

The towers of the main section of the Jinshanling Great Wall
Great views of the main section of the Jinshanling Great Wall.

Note: Today will be a working day for most, which means we shouldn’t see too many other hikers out at Jinshanling.

With the Simatai section of the Great Wall rumoured to be in a ‘soft opening’ phase and maybe opening properly next March, we’re going to take a little look over that way just before we head back to our regular finish point at Jinshanling.

On this hike we’ll walk all of the eastern section of Jinshanling; hike a few towers of Simatai and maybe get a little look at what they’re doing over there; and then backtrack a little to follow a park trail through the hills to finish at Jinshanling’s other car park.

Much of the Jinshanling Great Wall is outside the Beijing Municipality, in Hebei Province. It’s a well-known part of the Great Wall that is in good condition after a lot of restoration work, and it is extremely picturesque, with large towers that are more closely-spaced that usual.

We’ll follow the Great Wall towards Simatai. The walk is steep in places with a lot of steps – in one place it’s 107 steps up, then 120 steps down. This means it can get a bit tough on the knees, but the views make up for any temporary pains.

Once we reach the end of the Jinshanling section, we’ll continue on a little into Simatai. We should be able to get good views of much of the Simatai Great Wall, including the steep eastern ridge where the famously hard-to-reach Sky Bridge and Fairy Tower are located.

After a little look over that way, we’ll backtrack a little to reach a park trail. This trail leads down a valley, and after about thirty minutes we’ll arrive at the bottom and meet our bus.

Before heading back to the city, we’ll have a late lunch (perhaps after 2pm) at a local restaurant. The cost of food and drinks is included in the price of the hike.

What to bring on this hike

Reasons you might not enjoy this hike

  • There are a few places where the wall is very steep, and the footing is quite tricky.
  • There’s no shade on this hike, except for in towers – this hike will be tough in hot weather.

COVID-19 and participation precautions

The brief version:

  • Please DO NOT participate if you are sick or showing symptoms of fever and/or have an elevated temperature, or have been in close contact with someone who was/is.
  • You MUST agree to the mitigation and prevention measures outlined here and that Beijing Hikers will not be held responsible if any participants become sick.

Please read in full here: Operating hikes under COVID-19 precautions

Related content

Photos and trip reports: Jinshanling Great Wall

See all the hikes  In the calendar / in a list