The Xianshuihe fault zone is a large strike-slip fault zone with frequent historical strong earthquakes, and some creep sections have been observed through geodetic measurements. The extensive outcrops of slate, black carbonaceous gouge and phyllite in these creep sections represent the major rock composition of the upper crust of the Xianshuihe fault. To better understand the physical mechanism and transition conditions of creep and stick-slip in Xianshuihe fault, we conducted shearing experiments on slate, black carbonaceous gouge and phyllite in a wide range of confining pressure of 50–200 MPa, pore-water pressure of 30–100 MPa, and temperature ranging from 100 ℃ to 370 ℃ using a servo-controlled, triaxial testing apparatus. In order to obtain velocity dependence of friction, normal loading rates are stepped up and down in the range of 0.04 μm/s–5.0 μm/s. The friction coefficient of slate, black carbonaceous gouge and phyllite are found to be 0.54–0.64, 0.54–0.70 and 0.50–0.58, respectively, across the entire temperature range. In addition, the frictional behavior of slate, black carbonaceous gouge and phyllite shows a transition from initial velocity-strengthening behavior to velocity-weakening behavior as temperature is elevated. The transition temperature for slate and black carbonaceous gouge is constrained to 250–300 ℃, and the transition behavior of phyllite is found at 300–350 ℃. Combined with the geothermal gradient, it is inferred that the shallow creep along Xianshuihe fault occurs at depths of less than 10 km and its seismic nucleation depth is 10–20 km.