If you would like a nice day or overnight trip from Chengdu then heading to Longquan and Sancha lake is one of the better choices. Longquan is the closest mountain range you could get to just south east of the city. Sancha lake is a nice reservoir south west of Longquan or just straight south of Chengdu which, has plenty of nice camping or hotel options and a good getaway.
I took off from my place in south west Chengdu and headed towards Longquan through the city and suburbs. It takes less than two hours to get to the base of mountains and it takes an hour to get to the top or less if you don’t have gear like I had. The area is known for its peach and cherry blossoms, some nice views of the surrounding mountains and one or two notable monasteries. You can also visit Longquan lake which isn’t as far as Sancha lake but is smaller. They aren’t super high mountains but more like hills reaching a few hundred meters higher then Chengdu.
There’s some nice views at the top and then it’s mostly downhill if you’re the main route called the G319. It takes about half hour to get down. You pass a small town that could be a good spot for lunch and dinner and it has a temple named Shijingsi that seems popular. I didn’t go inside and check out but it might be worth checking out.
Its 37 kms or so to Sancha lake from there. It doesn’t have any big climbs but it’s not super flat either so there’s many smaller climbs so it took me about another three hours or so. It’s hard to tell which road to take since there are so many, so check your GPS often or you may end up going in the wrong direction. I got to the lake but it was already getting dark. I should have left in the morning that day but I don’t think I left until around one. I was going to meet another group of bikers who were already there but I couldn’t see well so I camped on my own. The lake is huge so if you do bike around it, I imagine it could be about an hour and a half. They were about another 40 minutes from where I camped.
I got up the next day, packed up my tent and began heading back. You can take the main road which is similar to a highway and has a couple of tunnels and faster or you can take the small road which is a little longer and tougher, but more scenic. I took the main road and got into the southern suburbs of Chengdu in about three hours and then it was a couple hours from there to get home.
Nice trip and good way to get out of the city for a bit. Longquan is a little busy of course since its close proximity to Chengdu but it’s still a decent place to go. There’s plenty of restaurants and tea houses along the way with some views too. There are tons of tiny roads going through the hills there so you can explore on bike or motorcycle to different areas on various trips or over several hours.
