There has been a lack of in-depth research on the restoration dynamics of vegetation landscapes in the subalpine areas of Southwest China. This paper is based on the Dagou basin in Maoxian County, Sichuan Province as the research place. Our project established a database of information on the distribution of landscape patterns in the Dagou basin based on aerial photographs, ground surveys, QuickBird and Pleiades remote sensing imagery data sources, and the method of manual visual interpretation. The research methodology of this study includes landscape transfer matrix analysis (land use type transfer in 4 time periods: 1978-1988, 1988-2006, 2006-2020, and 1978-2020.); Landscape dynamics analysis (including annual dynamics of a single landscape type and annual dynamics of the basin as a whole.) and landscape index analysis (including 3 dimensions of patch composition, patch shape complexity and degree of fragmentation, and connectivity, with a total of 7 landscape indices.). The results of the study showed that (1) the dominant landscapes in the basin during the study period were deciduous mixed shrubs, grasslands, and Pinus tabulaeformis forests, and the dominant landscape types will be maintained for a longer period in the future due to the implementation of the policy of forestation of closed mountains. (2) from 1978 to 2020, the vegetation cover of the Dagou basin was maintained at a high level, the forest area gradually increased, the agriculture was mainly transformed into an orchard economy, and the dynamic attitude of the overall landscape was gradually decreasing. (3) With the restoration of vegetation, the species richness, dominant landscape dominance, and landscape connectivity of the landscape in the Dagou basin increased, but the degree of landscape fragmentation remained high. In addition, this paper also discusses the characteristics and influencing factors of landscape pattern changes. The area above 2500m elevation in the Dagou basin is less affected by human activities and is dominated by natural succession. During the 42 years, the change in the area above 2500m elevation was small, and the transformation between grassland and shrubs was the main form of landscape change. The forestry policy has a greater influence on the landscape structure of the area below 2500m elevation in the Dagou basin, mainly affecting the forestry and agricultural landscape structure. This study is the first to explore the vegetation evolution in the Dagou basin, which provides a certain scientific basis for forest restoration in the subalpine and Minjiang River basin areas of Southwest China. In the future, related fields need to strengthen the research on the driving mechanism of landscape pattern evolution and formulate more rational ecological environment management policies.