To investigate the immunological responses of BALB/c mice to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection, the following factors were followed: strains, infect routes and mouse ages, the dendritic cells (DCs) and HSV-1 specific T cell rate and function in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), serum neutralizing antibody titer, and CD8^＋ T cell infiltration in nervous tissues in HSV-1-infected BALB/c mice. The results showed that 3-week- and 6-week-old BALB/c mice challenged with HSV-1 Mckrae and 17＋ strains through corneal and nasal routes led to an increased rate of DCs in PBMCs, and conferred DC capacity to stimulate HSV-1 specific T cells in vivo. At 35 d post infection, low level interferon γ (IFN-γ)^＋ T cells and no interleukin 4 (IL4)^＋ T cells could be detected in PBMCs, and low level neutralizing antibody was present or absent in serum. Ninety days after BALB/c mice challenged with HSV-1 through subcutaneous and foot pad injection, CD8^＋ T cells could be detected in mouse trigeminal ganglia in different groups. However, HSV-1 specific IFN-γ^＋ T cell and IL4^＋ T cell rates showed divergence between different virus strains and mouse ages. Foot pad injection of BALB/c mice with HSV-1 could elicit higher neutralizing antibody titer compared with subcutaneous injection. This research demonstrated that, infection of different age BALB/c mice with different HSV-1 strains through different routes can stimulate comparable DC maturation and antigen presentation.