Over the last few decades the extent of land-use has been dramatic and vegetation has been shifted in the Loess Plateau. Shifts of vegetation alter the distribution of plant roots, which have made the plant’s belowground vertical structure unclear. Fine roots (≤2 mm in diameter) are the primary pathway for water and nutrient uptake. The growth and distribution of fine roots are influenced by many biotic and abiotic factors. Therefore, soil environment is the main factor that influences the fine roots. The interactions of fine roots and soil environment are important for water and nutrient uptake, which are critical for plant growth and ecosystem function. Despite their importance for the nutrient cycling and resource capture, fine roots are poorly understood in different successional stages of herbaceous vegetation. Understanding the differences among different succesional herbaceous vegetations requires assessment of vertical distribution of fine root in soil profile and its influence factors. The objective of this study is to understand the relationship between vertical distribution of fine roots in different successional stages of herbaceous vegetation and soil environment in the Loess Plateau. We surveyed five grasslands that previously were croplands but have been abandoned without planting crops for different years. The fine roots were collected for each 10 cm depth interval to a depth of 80 cm with 9 cm diameter cores in each experiment plot. Soil water content and soil bulk density were also measured at the same time. The vertical distribution of fine roots, soil water content and soil bulk density were compared among the different grasslands. The results indicated that fine root biomass (dry biomass of roots per unit volume), length density (length of roots per unit volume), surface area (surface area of roots per unit volume) and specific root length (length of roots per unit dry biomass) were all concentrated in the 040 cm soil layer, and then decreased with the increasing soil depth. Except the 20a grassland, the total fine root biomass, length density and surface area increased with increasing abandoned years. Except for the 25a grassland, fine root diameter decreased with the abandoned years. Except the 4a grassland, soil water in the 0100 cm soil layer increased with increasing abandoned years and the soil water in the deep soil layers were more stable in different grasslands. The rank of soil bulk density in different grasslands was 9<4<15<20<25a. These suggest that the influence of fine root on the soil environment was different, it can ameliorate the surface soil environment dramatically. Fine root parameters, soil water and soil bulk density were different significantly in different abandoned years (p<0.05) and there were different correlations among them. Soil water was always the key factor that influences the fine root distribution. For soil bulk density, it was not the key factor that influences the fine root distribution in the early stage, but was in the later stage. Generally, the relationship between bulk density and fine root distribution became closer with the increasing abandoned years.