Zhaga Waterfall「扎嘎瀑布」

Review

That day we arrived in Songpan at almost 1 p.m. After checking into the hotel, we felt it was still early, so we thought about visiting Muni Valley in the afternoon.

Muni Valley actually has two scenic spots: Erdaohai and Zhaga Waterfall. We hesitated for a bit and finally chose Zhaga Waterfall. Mainly because from the introduction, Erdaohai is also various alpine lakes, and it felt a bit like a mini Jiuzhaigou. Since we were going to Jiuzhaigou later anyway, we decided not to repeat that and went straight to see the waterfall.

We hired a car from Songpan to get there. I remember the separate ticket for Zhaga Waterfall was around seventy or eighty yuan, but I’ve forgotten the exact price. The whole scenic area isn’t particularly large; we spent about two hours.

One thing I really like about this place is that after entering, you don’t need to buy any shuttle bus or electric cart tickets. You can just walk slowly the whole way, and the walking isn’t tiring. There weren’t many visitors when we went, and it was much more relaxed than Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, which we visited later.

I didn’t have high expectations for it at first, but after entering I found it quite beautiful.

Water flows down from the mountain all the way, forming many travertine pools along the route, one layer after another, and in some places the water color is very pretty. Our family immediately thought: hey, how is this a bit like Huanglong? So later we called it ‘Little Huanglong’ ourselves.

At the very end is Zhaga Waterfall, which is quite impressive. The waterfall has a drop of over one hundred meters and is said to be one of the tallest travertine waterfalls in China. The water volume was good when we visited, rushing down from above, and it looked very imposing from below.

Also, I think although both this place and Huanglong feature travertine landforms, the feeling is still different. Huanglong is larger and more developed, while this side is relatively more pristine. The whole way, alpine streams flow down along the travertine terraces.

If you’re already planning to go to Jiuzhaigou and only have half a day for Muni Valley, I’d personally recommend Zhaga Waterfall. At least we didn’t hit any disappointments this time: few people, not tiring, about two hours is enough, and the scenery was better than I had expected.

If you come to Songpan, you can conveniently fit this into your itinerary.

#MuniValley #ZhagaWaterfall #Songpan #SongpanTravel #WesternSichuanTravel #AbaTravel #SichuanTravel #WesternSichuanTour

Visit details

• Address: Muni Valley Scenic Area（牟尼沟风景区）
• Rating: 4.5 / 5
• Published: September 2, 2026
• Original record: View this review on Dianping

Photos