Practical Guide to Enshi Grand Canyon Without Getting Tired

When you visit the scenic area, guides and staff typically recommend this route for healthy visitors: Enter the park and take the ground cable car, then directly take the uphill cable car to the top station (the cable car's final stop), hike to Yizhuxiang (Incense Stick Peak), return, and use the escalator on your way back. Then visit Yunlong Crevice, walk to the end and take the sightseeing elevator or climb 999 steps up, then walk back to the visitor center. This route is actually both physically demanding and expensive, without seeing that many more views. They won't tell you that after taking the ground cable car, you can take a bus directly to the hiking entrance. You need to research this yourself. Recommended route: 📍 Take the ground cable car + bus (the mandatory 50 yuan transportation fee) directly to the walking entrance. 📍 Hike to the cable car upper station (terminal station). This route has excellent scenery and very few people, as most visitors are led by guides to take the cable car up. If you feel unsatisfied without reaching the top, you can hike to Zhongtianmen Gate, then return to the cable car upper station. Don't hike further. First, once you continue forward, you can't turn back and must go all the way to the top. Second, beyond this point, it's just climbing for the sole purpose of seeing Yizhuxiang (Incense Stick Peak, shown in image 1), which isn't really worth it. 📍 Buy a downhill cable car ticket (80 yuan) to descend, which gives you a perfect aerial view of the entire Yunlong Crevice. At this point, you'll notice the cable car exit is crowded with people heading up to hike, while almost nobody is going down, so you'll enjoy a less crowded experience. 📍 Head straight to the crevice entrance and enter Yunlong Crevice. By now, people from your group will be climbing to the peak, while later arrivals are still queuing for the cable car. You'll already be at the crevice with few other visitors. You can take your time photographing, viewing waterfalls and rainbows, and touching the cool, clear spring water. It's truly refreshing. 📍 You can turn back when you reach the second waterfall or see the suspension bridge. (At most, walk to the public toilet area where there's a viewing platform where everyone takes photos) If you go further in, the scenery remains similar, and eventually you'll need to turn back. The narrow path makes it difficult to pass others, and you might get scolded. If you walk all the way to the end, you'll need to climb 999 steps or take the sightseeing elevator. More importantly, once you're up, you'll have to walk back to the visitor center under the blazing sun with no shade. The time spent entering the crevice is the same time needed to walk back—it's a complete round trip. Isn't it nicer to stroll back through the cool crevice?