Field soil is always layered, and preferential flow is the common process for water flow and solute transport. However, studies on water flow processes in layered soils have largely ignored the preferential flow process. This paper investigates the water distribution patterns and preferential flow characteristics in six different porous media profile structures (i.e. homogeneous fine media, homogeneous coarse media, fine media overlying coarse media, coarse media overlying fine media, fine media containing horizontal coarse layer, and coarse media containing horizontal fine layer) using dye tracing technique. The results show that, when water infiltrates from coarse to fine media, the hydraulic barrier effect inhibits the formation and development of preferential flow. In contrast, when water infiltrates from fine to coarse media, the capillary barrier effect promotes the formation and development of preferential flow. Both hydraulic and capillary barrier effects reduce the infiltration depth of water in the layered media profiles, causing water content in the layered porous media profile displaying a distinct discontinuous distribution along the infiltration direction. The preferential flow heterogeneity is the highest in the homogeneous fine media profile, is the lowest in the coarse media overlying fine media profile, and is higher in the media profile containing horizontal layered profile than in the media profile containing two different layers.