Summer Shata Travel Guide: Hiking or Horse Riding Routes and Photo Spots

📍Location: Shata Ancient Trail National Forest Park, Zhaosu County, Ili, Xinjiang 🏠Accommodation: It is recommended to stay in Shata Township, which is very close to the park entrance, convenient for entering right at 9 AM when the park opens 🕜Visiting Time: It is recommended to reserve a whole day. In the afternoon, Shata often has overcast skies and rain, so it is best to enter the park in the morning and leave when the weather changes 👣About the Routes: 👉🏻Take the shuttle bus into the park; it stops at the Quicksand Waterfall but you can stay on the bus and get off at the final stop, the Hot Spring Hotel. Walk 100 meters forward along the road and transfer to an electric cart. Some electric carts have no doors and can be cold early in the morning, so bring a jacket. 👉🏻The first stop by electric cart is Zhuanyun Bridge, the second is General Bridge. You can get off or take the return cart at either stop, choosing based on the scenic spots and distances described below. 👉🏻Walking from Zhuanyun Bridge to General Bridge is not far, about half an hour. Here you can see snow-capped mountains, rivers, and pine forests, as shown in photos p2 and p3. 👉🏻After getting off at General Bridge, walk inward less than to House No.1 Kala. On the left, there is a fallen dead tree for photos, as in p4; on the right, you can see snow mountains, as in p5, p6, and p7. 👉🏻The distance from General Bridge to House No.1 Kala is 500 meters; from House No.1 to No.2 is 1 km; from No.2 to No.3 is 1.5 km; from No.3 to No.4 is 300 meters; from No.4 to Flower Terrace is 2 km. 👉🏻Houses No.1 and No.2 are surrounded by forest and snow mountains. After General Bridge, you won’t see the river again until Flower Terrace. If you only want to see forest and snow mountains and have limited stamina, you can return after House No.1. Going to Houses No.2 and No.3 involves some climbing, and many visitors find this section tiring. The scenery here is also quite similar, as shown in photos p8 to p14. 👉🏻House No.3 Kala has a relatively high hillside with horses for photos, and you can also photograph the dry-land scallions. 👉🏻From House No.4 Kala, walking inward for about ten minutes leads to a large flower field with a broad view of snow mountains, as in p15 and p16. 👉🏻Flower Terrace is the end of the park route. The glacier inward blocks further passage, and now only the hiking crossing route can pass through here. You can see another river here, with general scenery as in p17 (this photo was not taken on the same day; when I visited, the weather changed at 3 PM, so I only walked a bit past House No.4 and didn’t continue. This photo was taken later during the Shata Grand Loop hike passing Flower Terrace). 🐎About Horse Riding House No.1 is the starting point for horse riding with unified ticketing. It is recommended to arrive before noon; if you come late, the first batch of horses will be gone, and you will have to wait for riders to return, which takes several hours before horses are available again. Horse riding costs 80 RMB per hour. Round trips from House No.1 to No.4 cost 160 RMB; round trips to Flower Terrace cost 240 RMB. At the endpoint, there is a half-hour photo time. One-way horse riding fees are half price. Here, one groom leads many horses. The groom rides one horse and leads one or two horses for tourists, with the rest following behind. If you are afraid, tell the groom to lead your horse.