Tianzhi Ridge Trail

The loop begins at the official east entrance on the north side of 天下玉苑 (天芝步道东入口), at the foot of 九龙山 in Dayin Town. Rather than a gentle preamble, the first leg commits early: the signed trail climbs out of the valley onto the enclosing crest, where the character of the day is set in the first half hour. Lower down, broadleaf evergreen and patches of bamboo line the grade, the northern Siming foothill forest — denser and lower than the cloud forest of the range's interior to the south. The first high point is where the ridge opens: below, the valley falls away toward 大隐溪 and the reservoir comes into view for the first time. Pace the early climb — the ridge ahead gives no easy escape, and the day's water load is now fixed.

Photo suggestion: The valley and 大隐溪 from the first ridge read best in early light, before haze softens the layers.

Once on the west ridge the walk shows its hand. Shuangxikou Reservoir swings into full view below — a long, narrow impoundment folded into the hills — and the layered ranges of the Siming Mountains stack behind it: the classic composition of water, ridge, and farther ridge that gives this corner of the system its reputation. This is the section that earns the 'full mountain-ridge' description: the path runs the crest, sometimes on open tread with the slope falling away on both sides, sometimes tucked into a band of trees before breaking out again. Orient by the water — the reservoir stays consistently below you on the loop's inner side, so as long as you can see it you know your line. The first true high point sits along here, a viewpoint worth the pause.

Caution: The crest is open and the drop on both sides is real. Keep the group together, and turn back in thunder or high wind rather than pressing along the exposed line.

Photo suggestion: The west ridge in clear autumn light is the signature frame — reservoir low, ranges behind, colour on the crest.

The middle of the loop is the sustained traverse along the top of the ridge that rings the reservoir — the part that makes Tianzhi a mountain-ridge walk rather than a lakeside path. The walking is rhythmic: up and over the minor summits, down into the saddles, up again, with the reservoir appearing and disappearing as the ridge bends around it. Forest alternates between open crest and enclosed broadleaf and bamboo; on the open parts the view reaches across the foothills toward Yuyao's plain in the distance, and on the clearest days the 芝林 gorge and its 白岩溪 thread are visible cutting in below. This is also where the literary geography surfaces: the Siming Mountains were a node of the 浙东唐诗之路, the Eastern Zhejiang Tang-poetry route, and the ridge lines you are following are the same contours that drew travelling poets. Carry the rhythm — this is the longest single section, and a steady early pace pays off here.

Photo suggestion: On the open crest, shoot back along the ridge line itself — the repeating up-and-over rhythm reads best from behind.

The east ridge brings the forest back. After the long open traverse the path drops into broader bands of broadleaf and bamboo, the shade returning as the loop curves back toward the valley it started from. The descent is gentler than the initial climb but no less continuous; the tread here is the ridge's eastern flank, with the reservoir valley below on one side. Bamboo groves close in on the lower grade and the air cools — a welcome close on a warm day. Watch the descent after rain: ridge tread and the short rocky pitches hold water and slip. As the path meets the valley floor again, the east entrance and the 大坝 lot are both a short walk away, and the loop tightens toward its start.

Caution: The east-flank descent is the most slip-prone part after rain; take the short rocky pitches slowly.

Photo suggestion: The bamboo on the lower east ridge catches side light in the afternoon — the green contrast against the open crest above.

The final leg returns along the valley to the east entrance where the loop began — the easiest walking of the day and a natural cool-down, with the reservoir's outflow running beside the road and the ridge you have just crossed rising behind. Use it to regroup, check water, and confirm the pickup or the drive back before signal fades on the crest. If you started from the 双溪口水库大坝 lot instead, the loop simply closes there, a short drive below. The trailhead facilities and any 驿站 rest point are the last chance for facilities, so sort that here rather than back on the ridge. The loop is complete — a single continuous ridge line around the reservoir, no road transfer, no backtracking, in a genuine mountain setting under an hour from Ningbo.

Photo suggestion: The closed ring seen from the valley — ridge on one side, reservoir outflow on the other — is the cleanest summary frame of the route.