Outbound Collective logo

Climb Ox Heart Mountain

Haibei Zangzuzizhizhou, China

Details

Distance

9.9 miles

Elevation Gain

6561.7 ft

Route Type

Out-and-Back

Description

Added by Kyle Obermann

Ox Heart Mountainrises above the colorful plains of Qinghai Province, giving 360views of the surrounding peaks and landscape: the breadbasket ofnorthwest China.

FromXining, Qinghai Province's main airport and city, take the bus 6~hours to Qilian Town (祁连县).The bus ticket is 58RMB and the first one leaves at 8:15am everyday.There are multiple buses every day.

From the SE end ofthe Qilian (near the main town square) head almost due south,following the patchwork of small roads through the town until youreach a main road (small, but the only one) that leads up towards themountain to a concrete lookout spot above many of the fields andpastures. From here, head in a more SE direction to the top of theforest along its western edge, where the ground flattens out andthere are some nice camping spots in pasture at around 3200m rightabove the treeline. There are some seasonal springs coming from theground as well in the area. If you are looking at Google Maps, thiscampsite is approximately directly due south from the center of thetown and right south (~100m above) the far southwest corner of theforest before a large, dry, gully feature.

From this campsite,you have two options to ascend: head further east to the crest of thesmall ridge at which the other side the gully plummets down, and thenhead up through the thick and annoying brush along the ridge; or,head straight up the steep slope almost directly south of you, which,although is quite steep, is a lot more clear than the ridge line.Follow these ridges upwards keeping the large gully to the east ofyou and eventually there is a large grassy bowl before the finalscree slope ascent to the peak. The bowl is at approximately 3880mand makes for great camping and has some small streams as long asthere is snow melting from the peak.

From the bowl, it isa steep, scree scramble ascent to the peak heading slightly SWstraight up a scree face and then turning slightly back SE towardsthe summit at 4667m. There is a “false” summit at 4353m whichmakes a good resting point. No technical gear is needed, but goodscrambling skills are essential at some parts and it is very steep. It's slightly dangerous, and the route should be not attempted without previous experience.

Read More

Download the Outbound mobile app

Find adventures and camping on the go, share photos, use GPX tracks, and download maps for offline use.

Get the app

Features

Camping
Photography
Backpacking
Hiking
Forest
Groups
Scenic
Wildflowers

Climb Ox Heart Mountain Reviews

Have you done this adventure? Be the first to leave a review!

Leave No Trace

Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

Nearby