With the Year of the Horse approaching, local authorities in Guangzhou's Panyu district have introduced a horse-shaped mountaineering route in a forest park, after previously closing a similar adventure route mapped by hikers on social media platforms.

Hiking enthusiasts across the country have recently shared their creative ideas online for an activity known as "drawing a horse", which involves walking along a specific path to create an outline of a horse on a map. These horse-shaped hiking routes have been reported in popular locations nationwide, including Beijing's Olympic Forest Park, Longquan Mountain in Chengdu, Sichuan province, and Baiyun Mountain in Guangzhou.

One such trail in Dafu Mountain Forest Park, located in Panyu district, has sparked online discussions. The 14.08-kilometer route, shaped like a horse, was uploaded on a hiking app in late November by a hiker who said the journey took nine hours, nine minutes and 31 seconds. By Friday, the route had been downloaded more than 3,800 times by hiking enthusiasts.

However, some hikers who attempted the route described it as wild and extremely challenging, advising those without outdoor experience to refrain from trying it. They said the path required multiple fence crossings and included steep slopes, deep pits, and soft, slippery surfaces. Some slopes along the route were nearly 80 degrees, with a risk of falling rocks.

As a result of the safety concerns, Dafu Mountain Forest Park's management center announced the closure of the adventure route on Friday, noting it was neither developed nor recommended by the park authority — cautioning mountaineers against attempting it.

The notice said more than 1,000 people had attempted the challenging route, which involved climbing steep slopes and scaling fences, resulting in some visitors falling. The park management center also said hiking in the undeveloped area had damaged vegetation.

According to the park, undeveloped areas have complex terrain, with steep slopes, falling rocks, sharp branches, and occasional appearances of venomous snakes and insects. In the event of an accident, rescue workers could find it difficult to speedily locate and assist hikers. The areas also lack safety protection facilities, and mobile phone signals are often weak or absent, the park said.

To reduce the risk of accidents while meeting hikers' interests, the park subsequently designed an alternative 16.95-km route after field explorations conducted jointly by a professional surveying team and the park's management center. The route initially recreates the posture of a galloping horse on a map. However, because the shape is not yet vivid enough, local cultural and tourism authorities have invited hikers to give suggestions for improvement before the route is officially launched.

In light of frequent accidents involving hikers, the General Administration of Sport has issued regulations strictly prohibiting unauthorized hiking and crossing activities. In early January, the GAS mountaineering center issued a notice on further strengthening the safety of winter mountaineering and outdoor activities. The notice called for local authorities to identify and list popular online-famous routes to strengthen supervision and set up safety warning signs in areas with high accident risks.

Another popular hiking area in Guangdong, the Wanglanggui area within Shenzhen Dapeng Peninsula National Geopark, has closed to the public. On Jan 11, a middle-aged man collapsed and fell unconscious near Dingxin Lake in the Wanglangui area. He later died despite rescue efforts. According to the geopark's management authorities, three incidents of hikers going missing and subsequently being found dead occurred in the area between Aug 10 and Oct 21, 2025.

qiuquanlin@chinadaily.com.cn