The Zhanghe Scenic Area, centred on the Zhanghe Reservoir to the northwest of Jingmen city, is a reservoir landscape of forested hills and clear water that offers a gentler version of the gorge scenery found further west along the Yangtze. The reservoir was created in the 1950s and its irregular shoreline, carved through limestone hills, has produced an archipelago of small peninsulas and inlets popular with boating trips and hiking.
The area functions mainly as a weekend destination for people from Wuhan, Jingzhou, and Jingmen, which keeps it from being overcrowded on weekdays. Trails through the surrounding hills offer views over the water, and in spring the hillsides are covered in flowering trees. It is pleasant rather than spectacular — the right place to stop and breathe between historical sites rather than a destination in its own right.