The land use is very complex in hilly and gully regions of northeastern China. There is an interesting phenomenon that the runoff of uphill melts firstly, which results in different erosion processes. This study was designed to investigate the influence of snowmelt runoff, slope gradient, slope length and snow density on snow melting rate via simulating snowmelt experiment. The results are shown as follows. 1) The snow melting rate was mainly controlled by the snowmelt runoff and significantly increased with the increasing snow-melt runoff. When the volume of snowmelt water was 0.1 L/ s, the snow melting rate was 591 g/ min; when the volume of snowmelt water was 0-5 L/ s, the snow melting rate was 1 121 g/ min. 2) Snow melting rate was significantly positively correlated with slope gradient. When slope gradient was 2°, the snow melting rate was 766 g/ min; when it was 14°, the snow melting rate was 1 002 g/ min. 3) The snow melting rate showed a positive correlation with slope length. 4) There was no obvious linear relationship between snow density and snow melting rate. Our findings would provide reference for the research of water erosion prediction project (WEPP).