The purpose of the study was assessing rural tourism’s development barriers in Soltanieh، Zanjan province. A descriptive–correlation survey approach was used in this study. The study population consisted of local people، government experts and tourists. Data was collected by eight section closed questionnaire. Reliability and validity of questionnaire were determined by investigating the attitudes of rural development specialists in Zanjan University. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data using Excel and SPSS Win16. Results showed that the region has a high capacity for rural tourism development in historical attractions، natural and cultural area of sustainable development. Based on factor analysis، four most highly ranked items on barriers to rural tourism development in the region were extracted as: weak management and planning، lack of welfare and health facilities، educational and cultural barriers and inadequate investment.