Mount Huashan Plank Walk

Mount Huashan Plank Walk, or Huashan Cliffside Path is one of the most dangerous attractions in Mount Huashan. It is built by inlaying wooden rafters and iron chains on the steep cliff, and the bottomless abyss is right under the feet of tourists in absence of guardrail. Known as one of the top 10 scariest cliffside walks in the world, adventurers keep flocking because of its challenging and thrilling nature.
 

The whole Huashan cliffside path is divided into three sections, and the most dangerous one is actually the last section. Tourists must fasten their safety ropes and move forward slowly with their abdomens close to the bold cliff. In addition, tourists must return by the same way, which is equivalent to two adventures.

Hua Shan Plank Walk is quite attractive to the tourists who love to explore, but not a necessary way to reach the peak of Mount Huashan. If you don’t have enough courage, just enjoy the precipitous scene of Mount Huashan Plank Walk on the platform.
 

Mount Huashan Plank Walk

History: 700 years
Location: Eastern side of South Peak
Length: More than 100 meters (about 330 feet)
Width: 0.3 meters (1 foot)
Height: at least 300 meters (985 feet)
Death toll: It is rumored that the total number of deaths on Mount Huashan plank walk is about 100 per year, but it has not been confirmed. However, some staff said that there were indeed tourists who fell off because the safety rope was not fastened or removed.
 It was built over 700 years ago by Taoist priest named He Zhizhen inlaying stone nails on the cliff to support the wooden rafters for him to walk, in order to cultivate his morality.

Nowadays the local government has strengthened the wooden planks and regularly renovated them for ensuring the safety of tourists. But Huashan Plank Walk was still very cramped and tourist is only a step away from the abyss without any guardrail protection.
 With a length of more than 100 meters, Hua Shan Plank Walk is composed of three sections. The first section starts from Southern Heavenly Gate to the west of Chaoyuan Caves. This section, about 20 meters long (66 feet) and 0.7 meter (2.3 feet) wide, is plank road chiseled out on cliff and equipped with iron protective fence, which is quite safe.

Tourists keep going to reach the second part of the Huashan Plank Walk. With 10 meters (33 feet) length, this section is almost vertical and tourists need to go down step by step from the stairs by holding the iron chains. It’s quite thrilling and exciting. Here tourist can buy a safety rope to protect themselves from danger.

The last section is the real challenge of the Hua Shan Plank Walk with cliffs above and below, which is the most dangerous cliffside path that tourists want to experience. It’s rather steep, only 0.3 meters wide. Tourist must face and cling to the vertical cliff and move slowly. Below their feet is the bottomless abyss. After reaching the end of the Huashan Plank Walk, tourist have to walk the same way back.
 

1. Tourists are required to hold their own real and valid certificates. Individual tourists were not allowed to tour Mount Huashan Plank Walk.

2. Hua Shan Plank Walk may be closed if the weather is bad, like there is thunder and lightning, snowfall, rainfall and gusty winds.
 See Huashan Weather 

3. Tourists with height less than 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) or age over 55, or coronary heart disease, heart disease, hypertension and acrophobia, etc are not allowed to challenge this activity.

4. No barefoot, slippers, pets, skirts and high-heeled shoes are allowed during the challenge. A pair of comfortable anti-skidding hiker shoes would be best.

5. A pair of non-slip gloves is necessary to hold the iron chains.

6. The safety rope must be fastened!

7. It would save you a lot of queuing time to arrive at the plank walk immediately after sunrise. Because you may have to wait in line for at least an hour to take part in the challenge during peak season from March to November.
 

No cable cars can reach Mount Huashan Plank Walk directly. If you are energetic and have enough time, you can walk from the foot of Huashan Mountain to the South Peak to challenge the exciting cliffside path.

But if not, you can take a cable car up to the West Peak and then walk for about 30 minutes to reach the Huashan cliffside path. If you want to experience Huashan cableway and challenge the steep mountain roads, you can choose to take the cable car from the foot of the Mt. Huashan to the North Peak. Then climb up to South Peak, and finally arrive at Hua Shan Plank Walk. Along the way, you can not only get the sense of conquering the steep stairs, but also enjoy the beautiful natural scenery.
 For walking Huashan Plank Walk, tourists only need to pay CNY 30 for a safety rope after buying the ticket of Huashan Scenic Spot.