Soil moisture is an important feedback for the stability of the ecological environment in the mountainous alpine area. Understanding the characteristics of spatial and temporal variability of soil moisture in alpine mountains is helpful to optimize water resources management, and is of great significance to further protect the local fragile ecological environment. From May to October 2023, continuous fixed-point observation of soil moisture was conducted at 8 sites in the Shaliu River Basin, a typical mountainous alpine area. Based on the main differences among different sites, vegetation type, slope direction and altitude were selected as the main control objects to explore the effects of different vegetation types, slope direction and altitude on the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of soil moisture in the mountainous alpine area. The results indicated that there was minimal variation in soil water content among different vegetation types, and the influence of vegetation types on the temporal and spatial characteristics of soil water was limited; The influence of slope direction on soil moisture was obvious. The soil moisture condition of the shady slope was better than that of the sunny slope, and the fluctuation was smaller; In the altitude range of 3500-3600 m, the soil moisture on the shady slope during the mid-growing season was comparatively lower than that on the sunny slope, and there existed a significant variation in soil moisture among different slope directions within the surface layer (0-20 cm). In the altitude range of 3600-3700 m, during the late growing season, the soil moisture on the shady slope tended to be lower than that on the sunny slope, and there was a notable difference in soil moisture among various slope directions at depths ranging from 0 to 40 cm; During the growing season, the soil moisture content of each altitude interval followed this order from the highest to lowest: 3900-4000 m > 3700-3800 m > 3300-3400 m > 3500-3600 m, and the coefficient of variation of soil moisture of each altitude interval followed this order from the highest to lowest: 3900-4000 m > 3300-3400 m > 3700-3800 m > 3500-3600 m; The influence of altitude on soil moisture in the 0-40 cm soil layer was higher, and the order from the largest to the smallest was: 30-40 cm soil layer > 0-10 cm soil layer > 10-20 cm soil layer>20-30 cm soil layer. However, the soil moisture in the 40-60 cm soil layer had a weak response to the altitude.