Key takeaways
- The ¥236 park pass does not cover Baofeng Lake — it is a separately ticketed scenic area, like Yellow Dragon Cave and the glass bridge. This is the mix-up that catches most visitors.
- The ¥110 is three charges added together: ¥30 admission + ¥60 boat + ¥20 shuttle. The boat is over half the price, so the boat is what you are actually buying.
- It is 2.2 km south of Wulingyuan town — a 7-minute drive, not the excursion some guides describe.
- The reviews split on one behaviour: ride the boat and leave and it is 30 minutes for ¥110; stay for the lakeside walk, waterfall and salamander park and it earns its money.
- Almost no climbing anywhere — which makes it the easiest major sight here for families, older visitors and legs worn out by the park. Hikers have the opposite option: the Yingwozhai cliff trail, reopened 2025.
What Baofeng Lake is
Baofeng Lake (宝峰湖) is a reservoir sitting high among the sandstone cliffs of the Wulingyuan scenic area, at roughly 500 metres of elevation and about two and a half kilometres long. The setting is the appeal: quartz-sandstone peaks rise straight out of the water on all sides, the water is a deep green, and on a still day the reflection doubles the cliffs cleanly enough that photographs of it look inverted.
It is worth being clear about what kind of sight this is, because the expectations people arrive with cause most of the disappointment. This is not a hiking destination and not a wild lake — it is a managed, mostly seated experience: a shuttle bus in, a boat circuit of the water with commentary and staged Tujia folk singing from the shore, then a walkway back on foot. Almost nothing on the standard route involves climbing, which in Zhangjiajie — a place that otherwise demands stairs, queues and altitude — is precisely its value.
Tickets — and why the park pass doesn't cover it
The most useful thing to know before you go: your Zhangjiajie National Forest Park ticket is not valid here. The ¥236 four-day pass covers Yuanjiajie, Tianzi Mountain, Yangjiajie, Golden Whip Stream and Huangshizhai. Baofeng Lake runs its own ticket office and its own gate — as do Yellow Dragon Cave and the Grand Canyon glass bridge. Visitors regularly arrive assuming one ticket covers the region, and it never has.
| Component | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Admission | Scenic-area entry | ¥30 (concession ¥15) |
| Boat | The ~30-minute circuit of the lake — the main event | ¥60 (concession ¥30) |
| Shuttle | Return bus between the gate and the lake | ¥20 (concession ¥10) |
| Total | What you actually pay at the window | ¥110 (concession ¥55) |
| Insurance | Offered at the window — optional, not required | ¥3 |
Read that table as a value argument, because it is one: the boat is more than half the price. When people say the lake is poor value, what they mean is that ¥60 of their ticket bought a half-hour ride. Two details on concessions catch people out. First, the categories that enter free — under-14s, over-65s, disabled visitors and serving military — still pay half price for the boat and the shuttle, so a “free” entry still costs around ¥47. Second, 14–18s, 60–65s and full-time students pay the concession rate, not free entry. Online platforms often sell the package a little under the gate price. Rates are set by the local price authority and move slowly, but confirm on the day.
The touts trade on this confusion. If someone near the gates or your hotel offers a bundle that “covers everything”, ask which of the separately ticketed sites — Baofeng Lake, Yellow Dragon Cave, the glass bridge — are actually included, and at what price. The park pass alone never covers any of them.
Getting there
It is much closer to town than most guides suggest — 2.2 km and about a 7-minute drive south of Wulingyuan (Amap-routed). If you have read that it sits ten kilometres north, that is wrong in both distance and direction. The practical consequence is that it does not need a day built around it: it slots into a morning or an afternoon either side of a park day.
| From | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Wulingyuan town | Taxi or DiDi — a short hop; local buses also pass the entrance | ~7 min |
| Yellow Dragon Cave | Taxi — the two are the standard non-park pairing | ~15–20 min |
| Zhangjiajie city | Taxi or coach to Wulingyuan first | ~40 min |
Because it sits so close to the national forest park gates, the usual mistake is scheduling, not transport: people tack it onto the end of a full park day when they are already tired of scenery. It works far better as the gentle half of a Zhangjiajie itinerary — a recovery morning, or the non-park day paired with the cave.
Best time & how long
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Best time of day | ⭐ Early afternoon — the tour-group peak is ~9–10am |
| Time needed | 1.5–2 hours: ~30 min boat + ~1 hour lakeside walk |
| Open | Roughly 07:00–18:00; shorter in winter — confirm on the day |
| Effort | Very low — shuttle, boat and a level walkway |
| Pairs with | Yellow Dragon Cave, as a non-park day |
The boats fill with organised groups in the morning, and there is a specific pattern worth knowing: Baofeng Lake has long been popular with Korean tour parties — the lake appeared in a Korean television drama — so it is common to find yourself on a boat where the commentary is in Korean. It is not a problem, but it explains the group traffic, and it is another reason to go after the peak.
After the boat, take the lakeside walkway rather than heading straight for the exit. It passes the Baofeng waterfall and a conservation park for the Chinese giant salamander (大鲵), a protected species and a genuine curiosity for children, then climbs gently back toward the gate — around an hour at an unhurried pace. This is the stretch that separates the good reviews from the bad ones.
Practical & how it fits a Zhangjiajie trip
- Budget it separately — ¥110 on top of the park pass, not included in it.
- Do the walk — the boat alone is 30 minutes and is where the “not worth it” verdicts come from.
- Hikers have an alternative — the Yingwozhai (鹰窝寨) trail, about 4 km and 2 hours on cliff walkways to a former bandit stronghold, past a slot canyon and an old Guanyin temple, with views over the “South Sea” peak forest. It was shut for several years and reopened in May 2025, so older reviews describing it as closed are out of date — but confirm on arrival.
- Skip the Baofeng temple — the hillside temple is derelict, with an overgrown approach and no real payoff.
- Bring repellent and grippy shoes — the lakeside bamboo attracts mosquitoes and the boards near the water stay damp.
The honest call: if you have three days or fewer in Zhangjiajie, spend them on the national forest park and Tianmen Mountain, and put the glass bridge ahead of this if you want one more paid sight. Baofeng Lake earns its place on a longer trip, on a day when you want scenery without stairs — travelling with children or older parents, or resting legs between two park days. Judged that way it is good; judged as a headline attraction it will disappoint.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Baofeng Lake included in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park ticket?
No — and this is the single most common mix-up. The ¥236 four-day park pass covers Yuanjiajie, Tianzi Mountain, Yangjiajie, Golden Whip Stream and Huangshizhai. Baofeng Lake is a separately operated scenic area with its own ticket office and its own gate, exactly like Yellow Dragon Cave and the Grand Canyon glass bridge. Budget ¥110 for it on top of the park pass. This also matters for a scam you may meet near the gates: if someone offers a package that 'covers everything', ask specifically which of these separate sites are included, because the park pass alone never covers them.
How much is a Baofeng Lake ticket, and what does the price include?
¥110 in total, and it helps to know it is a sum of three parts rather than one ticket: ¥30 admission + ¥60 for the boat + ¥20 for the return shuttle bus, with ¥3 insurance offered as an optional extra. The concession total is ¥55 (¥15 + ¥30 + ¥10). Note that the free-admission categories — under-14s, over-65s, disabled visitors and serving military — still pay half price for the boat and the shuttle, so 'free entry' does not mean a free visit. Students, 14-18s and 60-65s pay the concession rate. Online platforms often sell it a little below the gate price. Confirm on the day; the official rates are set by the local price authority and change slowly, but the online discounts move.
Is Baofeng Lake worth it, or is the boat ride too short?
Reviews split sharply, and the split has one clear explanation. The boat circuit is about 30 minutes, and if you step off it and walk straight out of the scenic area — which many people do — then ¥110 bought you half an hour, and it feels poor value. Visitors who stay and walk the lakeside route afterwards, past the waterfall and the giant-salamander park, generally rate the visit well. So the honest answer is that it is worth it if you treat it as a 1.5-2 hour half-day, and poor value if you treat it as a boat ride. Two groups should skip it outright: anyone with only one day in Zhangjiajie (the glass bridge is the better call), and anyone who has just finished Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain and has had their fill of rock scenery.
How do you get to Baofeng Lake from Wulingyuan?
It is very close — about 2.2 km and a 7-minute drive south of Wulingyuan town, which surprises people who expect an excursion. A taxi is a few minutes and cheap, and local buses run past the entrance. Because it is so close to town it works well as a half-day either side of a park day, and it is roughly 15-20 minutes by taxi from Yellow Dragon Cave, which is why the two are usually combined into one non-park day. Note that some guides place it 10 km north of Wulingyuan; that is wrong in both distance and direction.
Can you hike at Baofeng Lake instead of taking the boat?
Yes, and it is the part most foreign visitors never hear about. The Yingwozhai (鹰窝寨) trail runs roughly 4 km and takes about 2 hours on cliff walkways to a former bandit stronghold high above the lake, passing a slot canyon (一线天), an old Guanyin temple and views over the 'South Sea' peak forest. It is a genuine hiking route rather than a stroll, and it suits people who want the scenery without the tour-boat experience. One important caveat: the trail was closed for several years and only reopened in May 2025, so reviews and guides written before then describe it as shut. Confirm it is open when you arrive. The Baofeng temple on the hillside, by contrast, remains derelict and is not worth seeking out.
When is the best time of day to visit Baofeng Lake?
Early afternoon. The tour-group peak is roughly 9-10am, and the boats fill with organised groups — often Korean tour parties with Korean-language commentary, since the lake featured in a Korean television drama and has been popular with Korean visitors for years. Going after the peak means a quieter boat and softer light on the water for photographs. The scenic area opens around 07:00 and closes around 18:00, with shorter winter hours, so an afternoon visit still leaves plenty of time for the lakeside walk. Bring insect repellent — the lakeside bamboo attracts mosquitoes — and shoes with grip, because the boards near the water stay damp.
Verification scope
Neutral editorial coverage, not a first-hand report. The ¥110 ticket components (¥30 + ¥60 + ¥20), the ¥55 concession total and the concession rules were verified against the official Wulingyuan tourism price listing (2026-07-25), as was the fact that the national forest park pass does not cover this scenic area. The 2.2 km / ~7 minute drive from Wulingyuan and the distance to Yellow Dragon Cave are Amap (高德地图) routing, 2026-07-25 — several published guides place the lake ten kilometres north of town, which is wrong in both distance and direction. Opening hours, the ~30-minute boat, the value split, the Yingwozhai trail’s 2025 reopening, the derelict temple and the Korean-tour-group pattern are traveller-reported (2026-07) and should be treated as reported experience. This page carries no photograph — the repository holds no licensed Baofeng Lake image, and we do not borrow or mislabel one. Prices and hours change — confirm on the day.