Located in Daomaguan village of Tang County in Hebei Province, about 165 kilometers northwest of Beijing. Daomaguan Pass along with Juyongguan Pass and Zijingguan Pass comprise the three inner passes along the Great Wall. In the book "Intrigues of the Warring States", Daomaguan was called Hongshangguan Pass and during the Han Dynasty it was called Changshanguan Pass.

Daomaguan translates as "Tumbling Horse Pass" in English. It is so named because the dangerous mountain terrain would cause horses to fall when they passed by in ancient times. Occupying a place of strategic importance, Daomaguan Pass was built along the mountain contour. Half of it was located on the mountain and the other half was in the valley. The Tanghe River flows around the pass from the west, north and east to the southeast making access quite difficult.

The Daomaguan's city wall was made from a tamped mixture of lime, clay and sand and measured 2.5km in circumference. At one time, three city gates were used - the north gate was Xuanwu; the west gate was Youyi and the east gate was named Juren. On the mountains around the pass, there were once five stone fortresses. Unfortunately, due to extensive erosion, visitors can now only see the remnants of these structures. This is a popular spot for people to meditate on the past.