Abstract: Soil moisture (SM) is one of the key factors for plant growth and eco-environment reconstruction on the Loess Plateau of China. To ascertain the spatial variability of SM in deep soil layers at a regional scale, 234 sampling sites were located with a GPS receiver, and 12 198 soil samples were collected with a soil auger before the rainy season in 2008. The distribution and variation characteristics of SM were evaluated by using classic statistical and geostatistical methods. Results showed that ① SM decreased gradually from southeast to northwest in the horizontal direction, while in vertical direction, SM decreased from 0 to 90cm and then increased from 90 to 500 cm soil depth. ② Land use had a significant impact on the amount and profile distribution of SM. ③ The coefficients of variation and nugget ratios of SM at different depths in 0-500 cm profile demonstrated a decreasing-increasing trend, and these indices showed a good consistency in expressing the variation of SM. Understanding this information is beneficial to the management/mediation of soil and water processes, and to the restoration of eco-environment on the Loess Plateau.