Hailuogou Glacier

Insider View

Hailuogou is famous for its large low-altitude modern glaciers, which are 14.7 kilometers long. The scenic area integrates snow mountains, virgin forest, rare animals and plants, hot springs, and waterfalls to form a magnificent and peculiar landscape. It is an important natural ecological barrier and water conservation area in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
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Basic Information

Official Website: https://www.hailuogou.com/
Opening Hours: May 1 – October 31, 7:00 – 14:00; November 1 – April 30, 8:00 – 14:00
Visiting Time: one day
Chinese Name: 海螺沟冰川森林公园
Address: Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park, Moxi Town, Sichuan Province

Overview – Hailuogou Glacier

Hailuogou Glacier is located in Luding County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China, next to Moxi Town, more than 380 kilometers southwest of Chengdu. Hailuogou is backed by Gongga Mountain and is famous for its modern low-altitude glaciers, large ice waterfalls, and high mountain hot springs.

Hailuogou Glacier has a glacier area of 31 square kilometers, including 3 valley glaciers and small hanging glaciers, 8 ice bucket glaciers. In Hailuogou, the glacier area accounts for 10.4% of the total glacier area in the Gongga Mountain area. The largest glacier in Hailuogou is Glacier No. 1. Glacier No. 1 is a valley glacier originating from the main peak of Gongga Mountain. It is 14.4 kilometers long and has an area of approximately 23.2 square kilometers.

Hailuogou Glaciers are distributed between 7514-2940 meters above sea level, and above 4900 meters above sea level in the snow basin. This is a glacier formation area. The snow basin covers an area of 19.2 square kilometers. The basin wall is covered with avalanche troughs. The basin edge is 150 to 300 meters high. Large avalanche cones connected to each other; from 3800 to 4900 meters is a giant glacial waterfall (ie Hailuogou Dabing Waterfall), Hailuogou Dabing Waterfall is 500-1100 meters wide, 1080 meters high, and the vertical slope of the ice surface is 540‰. The largest ice waterfall ever discovered.

The ice tongue below 3800 meters is 5.7 kilometers long, and the lowest end is 2980 meters. It extends into the original Emei fir forest belt for 5.3 kilometers, and the average longitudinal slope of the ice surface is 158‰. Hailuogou Glacier is the lowest modern glacier at the same latitude on earth. It is located at an altitude of 2850m. Glacier arc arches, city gates, ice cracks, etc. are crystal clear and have different shapes.

The thickness of the glacier is 120 meters in the grain snow basin, the ice waterfall is 17 to 30 meters, and the ice tongue is 150 to 40 meters.

Because the Gongga mountain area where Hailuogou Glacier is located is affected by the Indian Ocean and Pacific monsoon circulation, the climate is relatively warm and humid, the temperature at the bottom of the glacier is close to the melting point, and there is abundant meltwater, which provides favorable conditions for the flow of glaciers, so the glacier flows faster ( For example, the ice tongue of Glacier No. 1 flows 15 to 180 meters per year), and the bottom movement is particularly intense; therefore, Hailuogou Glacier is an active glacier.

Source: Wikipedia

Attractions

There are 3 hot springs in Hailuogou Glacier, which are located in Camp No. 2, Gongga Shentang, and Camp No. 3. The water temperature is between 50°C and 90°C, which is a good bath hot spring. There are more than 70 square kilometers of virgin forest in the ditch, vegetation is vertically distributed, glaciers, hot springs, and forests symbiosis.

Camp 1 is the lowest among the three hot springs, with an altitude of about 1,900 meters, so altitude sickness is not easy to occur. The camp is 15 kilometers away from Moxi Town, and the spring water temperature is 78°C. Camp No. 2 is also known as “Rehui Ditch Boiling Spring”. It is about 7 kilometers away from Camp No. 1, with a flow rate of up to 8,900 tons, and the highest temperature at the outlet can reach 90°C. Camp 3 is about 2940 meters above sea level, which is the highest among the three hot springs.

Red Rocks Park Scenic Spot is an important part of Large Hailuogou Scenic Spot. Here, each piece of rock is covered with a beautiful red coat by Trentepohlia jolithus and piled up in the valley and at two sides of river, just like jumping and flowing notes. Under the reflection of Snow Mountains, it is grand, has a spirit as lofty as the rainbow spanning the sky, surpassingly beautiful and magnificent. It can be said to be “the World’s Red Park”. There are strange red rocks as well as many animals and plants.

There are more than 4800 kinds of rare animals and plants such as Magnolia dowsoniana, azalea, bhutanitis thaidina and lesser panda. It is a natural animals and plants garden living up to its name and a precious biological gene pool, and has been paid much attention by international academic circles, and is always known as “China Alpine Plants Garden”, which is full of scientific research value. Besides the world’s unique red rocks valley, there are primitive and mysterious Ancient Tea House Rod, winding and zigzagging Wilson Patch, and towering and holy Yajiageng Snow Mountain peaks in the scenic spot.

The Yanzigou Scenic Spot is 76km away from Kangding and 56km away from Luding, and 283 km away from Chengdu. In the scenic spot, the landscapes are very beautiful, mainly including Tianyao Shuiping, Dinghai Shenzhen Ruins, Upper Ten-miles Fairyland, Lower Ten-miles Fairland, Rock Pasture, Red Rocks Beach, Haizidang, Ice Cellar Mouth, etc., where you can appreciate the low-altitude oceanic glacier with strange shape and the largest slope; miraculous red rocks which are bright red and eye-dazzling; the sea of azalea which is hustle-bustle and in brilliant purples and reds; primeval forest in thousands of postures and towering giant trees; colorful and gorgeous red leaf forest; and Wusong snow mountains clad in silvery white and fully covered with snow.

Source: Wikipedia & Official Website