Self-Driving Trip to Da Hongshan (Mo Keer Mountain) in Beijing Surroundings: Is It Worth It? (Includes Transportation)
It's perfectly normal not to know about Da Hongshan, because this place is very niche and not well-known. Da Hongshan is also known as Mo Keer Mountain, located in the Four Sons Banner of Inner Mongolia. In layman’s terms, the soil here is entirely red, similar to a landform like the Danxia landform, and the human population is extremely rare. In professional terms, the terrain is a desert grassland terrace cliff, and it is known in the geological community as the Third System Standard Layer Section.
Da Hongshan can also be considered as Da Hongshan Plateau, which is like a flat area that was elevated by something underground, rising 45 meters, creating a north-south mountain top platform. This platform is 8 kilometers long from north to south and 5 kilometers wide from east to west, with a summit elevation of 1120 meters. Da Hongshan is not a rock mountain, but a sand soil mountain, with a layer of reddish sand soil on the outside, appearing red from a distance, which is the origin of its name.
The edge of the Da Hongshan Plateau is called a cliff, and the sand soil here has been eroded by wind over millions of years, forming various shapes, somewhat like sculptures unintentionally created by nature, such as whales, camels, shells, crocodiles, turtles, etc. It’s very suitable for photography. If you enjoy photography, I recommend shooting in the early morning and late evening, as the terrain will appear more orange-red and visually striking at that time.
Tip: Besides using a camera, I also suggest bringing a drone, the Da Hongshan looks even more beautiful when viewed from the sky.
Previously, due to the inconvenient transportation, few people knew about it, and even fewer people went. However, later the locals built a road directly to the foot of Da Hongshan. You can drive directly to the south-west entrance of Da Hongshan, and after entering, you will be in the Da Hongshan Terrace.
Transportation:
Da Hongshan is niche, and it may not appear on maps sometimes, and the biggest headache for those who want to go is transportation. Therefore, take note of the following notes. Da Hongshan tourism is all self-driving, so navigation apps are very important.
First, I suggest taking a train to Sunite Right Banner, then staying there for one night to rest. Sunite Right Banner is located north of Ulaan Chabu, and can generally be found on maps. Once in Sunite Right Banner, rent a car a day in advance, or you can rent a car in Ulaan Chabu and drive to Sunite Right Banner.
Early the next morning, drive out, you need to plan the route on the navigation app first. If you use Gaode Map, just set the starting point to Sunite Right Banner and the destination to Eren Nuoer Su Mu. The route is shown in the following picture.
Tip: If you use Gaode to plan a self-driving route, you will get the normal route. If you use Baidu Map to input the starting point and destination, Baidu will give you another self-driving route. Remember, do not choose the self-driving scheme when planning with Baidu, select the walking scheme.
When you drive according to the route given by Gaode, pay attention to the places along the way, especially Bai Ri Mu Tinge Han Shui, after passing this place, you won’t take long to see a signpost, the sign looks like the picture below, then drive according to the sign, and you will find it.
Da Hongshan’s gameplay is also interesting, many people bring tents to camp here, but food and supplies need to be prepared in advance, because there are no basic services here, and at night you can encounter various wild animals, such as foxes, camels, during the day you can see wild sheep, argali sheep etc. It's best to bring a mosquito repellent, as mosquitoes will be fierce at night.
