Lushan is one of the most dog-friendly mountains I have ever been to
During my 2-month long road trip over the summer, we stopped in Jiujiang in Jiangxi province. A friend told me about a popular local mountain not too far away. I had never heard of Lushan before, but I am very glad I went. We had a car so getting there with our dogs wasn’t a problem. We bought our tickets, filled out a very long-form to get a separate green code for the mountain and we were good to go.
- Note there are busses from Jiujiang to the base of the mountain and then travel busses that will take you up the mountain, but these busses are not dog friendly. We asked them and they told us we needed to put our dog in a crate, inside a suitcase and then under the bus, and that includes small dogs.
Driving to the top of the mountain is an accomplishment on its own. When we went the fog was so thick, we could not see a thing. The road is like a wet noodle, very curvy. People were driving like maniacs going up the mountain, especially given the amount of fog. One of our dogs, Ellie, did get car sick from all the twists and bends in the road.
Once at the top, we checked into our prearranged hotel (we used Airbnb with the pet filter and then privately messaged them) and wandered around. There is a town on top of the mountain, with a police station and a school. The town is very quaint with some lookout points and many shops. Parking in the town was hard to come by as many people parked on the street. At the end of our stay, we did find a paid underground parking garage. The parking garage was a bit expensive, especially because we had to buy a car ticket for parking when we bought our entry tickets to the mountain in order to drive up the mountain ourselves.
There is so much to do on the mountain, and everything seemed very dog friendly. Our first day it was raining but we wanted to go on a hike to one of the waterfalls (not the main waterfall). We learned you cannot hike there and have to take a cable car. We were a bit disappointed because we assumed they wouldn’t let us take our dogs on the cable car. We were mistaken, the cable car was dog friendly!
Dogs on a cable car? We were shocked but they made it seem so normal. We carried our dogs onto the cable car and enjoyed the view. Once at the top we started our walk to the waterfall. We took our dogs off-leash, and no-one seemed to mind. We even had the workers asking us about our dogs (they thought they were foreign dogs). There was a nice walking path behind the waterfall as well and the dogs were able to run and explore.
Wulao peak was a fantastic hike, even in the fog. I was looking forward to this hike because the pictures looked amazing. It was so foggy the day I went. I did not get any scenic views, but it was still a great hike. The hike itself starts at the tourist bus station drop off, I walked the route instead of taking the bus with Hugo. I wasn’t sure if Hugo would be allowed on the bus, and I didn’t mind the extra walk. You cannot drive your own car to the start of the hike so walking or taking the tourist bus is your only option. Once at the start of the hike you will see a sign and a set of stairs. We walked about 10 km already to the start of the hike and then kept going. As we were hiking a fog rolled in and I couldn’t see anything. Hugo and I stopped at the first peak to rest. Some of the fellow hikers started talking to me once they realized I could speak Chinese. They were very interested in Hugo. I ended up walking with a family for the next 4 peaks and we had a good conversation. They were so good with Hugo, some of the other children on the hike liked playing and petting Hugo. Overall, the people on the hike were amazing and made the hike worth it even without a view.
From WuLao Peak you can hike to san die quan (三叠泉) also known aa three cascading water or Lushan waterfall. From the last peak hike down the mountain and you will get to a grassier area. Follow the signs to the waterfall. This will take you to the tram station. You can either take the tram to the entrance of the waterfall or walk a couple extra km to the start. Hugo and I decided to walk, it was an easy walk, even with my legs shaking from hiking wuloa peak.
There weren’t many people on the walk to the entrance of the waterfall. It was a relaxing walk.
Once you get to the starting point of the waterfall there is a discos and a small seating area. This is where it gets hard. There are 1300 steps to and from the base of the waterfall. The steps are steep, and my legs were already shaking from the 6 hours of walking/hiking we did.
The waterfall is beautiful and definitely worth the hike. We spent a while at the bottom just admiring the view. People were so friendly and were very interested in Hugo. They thought it was adorable that he was wearing a doggie backpack to carry some of his things.
After hiking back up the 1300 stairs Hugo and I were exhausted. Hugo actually fell asleep on the stairs! I didn’t walk to walk back along the path, so I talked to the tram workers into letting Hugo on the tram with me. They didn’t take much convincing though. If you have a small dog the tram should be no problem.
I would highly recommend Lushan, it was extremely dog friendly, and the hikes and town were great. There are many lakes and hiking paths scattered throughout the mountain. We only did a few and loved it. I will definitely be going back to explore some of the other hiking trails.
