Abstract: To study the spatial and temporal characteristics of groundwater recharge and discharge of small watersheds in hilly regions in the loess plateau, the Zhifanggou watershed is taken as the research object. The hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of groundwater, precipitation and surface runoff in the gully head, upper, middle and lower reaches from June 2016 to May 2017 are analyzed. They may provide a basis for rational utilization of groundwater resources in this area. The results show that the variation coefficients of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in precipitation are the highest, and they have obvious rainfall effect, temperature effect and seasonal effect. Surface runoff and groundwater have a better response to temperature. From June to November, the evaporation loss is about 37% during the recharge process from precipitation to runoff and 54% during the recharge process to groundwater. The groundwater recharge from precipitation and runoff in different parts of the watershed are similar. The discharge proportion of groundwater decreases gradually from the gully head to downstream. The groundwater recharge and discharge also have obvious seasonal characteristics. From June to May in the following year, the groundwater recharge proportion from precipitation and runoff are: summer > autumn > winter and winter > autumn > summer, respectively. There is no obvious recharge in spring. The proportion of groundwater discharge is the highest in winter and lowest in summer. The average annual recharge proportion from precipitation and runoff is 26.89% and 73.11%, respectively. About 88% of groundwater originates from the recharge of precipitation in the summer months (June to September), and 12% from the the winter months (October to May in the following year).