3 miles of hiking • 0' elevation gain • 1 night
Pics on flickr: pieterpan. Arrived at Stone Forest in Yunnan Province in evening after hitching a ride in a black Audi (usually inhabited by rich guys driving like hell on wheels, sending pedestrians scattering). 20+ feet tall karst pillars in various shapes with trails winding around and through them, covering a 400+ acre area. All paths are paved (being in China). The loop surrounding the main area is wide enough for shuttles. Around each giant stone is manicured lawn, and maybe a pond. If you follow the path to the left you find an area with narrow paths through a fairly unkempt area (huzzah!). Where this path rejoins the main loop a gravel path head out left to what looks like a former western-style campground (a gutter, some amenities in disuse, a flat area with no stones; just tall grass and a few trees). If you follow this maintenance road, it leads into a small wood (There is a red banner with something in Chinese. Red is a national color, so it is hard to tell if it says "STOP!") After maybe half a mile or more you are on a small rise that enables you to see a ways. There is a sign saying not to enter or leave through a gate. This is where the local minority people enter the park to sell their wares.I found a large patch of grass to pitch my tent between the woods and the path, for a little stealth camping (tourists are always expected to stay in hotels). There is also a large area that is somewhat farmed on the north end of the park.
