Abstract: A study was carried out on permeability of soils under some typical forest vegetations,such as Chinese pine,larch,Korean pine,oak,weed trees,and filbert bushes in Eastern Liaoning mountain region with the method of temporary sampling plot.The results indicated that the soils under all the six forest vegetations showed good permeability,with the initial rate of infiltration(f ₀/mm·min ^-1)ranging 12.8～61.1,and averaging 38.7 for A horizon,16.8～41.7 and 27.0 for B horizon,29.3～38.2 and 24.4 for C horizon and the stable rate of infiltration(f _c/mm·min ^-1)ranging 2.6～4.2 and averaging 3.5 for A horizon,2.2～4.1 and 2.9 for B horizon,1.1～3.3 and 2.2 for C horizon.The saturated hydraulic conductivity ranged 1.53～2.23,averaged 1.86 for A horizon,0.77～2.05 and 1.27 for B horizon,0.50～1.28 and 0.79 for C horizon.Soil permeability varied significantly among vegetation types and soil horizons.Generally speaking,soil permeability under broadleaf forest was better than under coniferous forest,and the soil under filbert bushes also showed good permeability.A horizon is better than B horizon and B horizon is better than C horizon in permeability.When the difference in forest age was beyond two age grades,the older the forest,the higher the initial soil permeability under it.When the Horton equation was used to model soil saturated penetration course,the result was quite similar to what was determined in the field.