Based on the three phases of land use and land cover change spatial data sets for the late 1980s, 2000 and 2008 in the Loess Plateau, we calculated the direction and amplitude of land cover change, land cover condition index and land cover change index, and analyzed the temporal and spatial characteristics of land cover and macro-ecological conditions changes in the Loess Plateau since the late 1980s. The results showed that the average land cover condition index of the Loess Plateau was 24.07 in the last 20 years. Land cover condition of the Rocky Mountain Area was the best, the Valley plain area took the second place, and the Agricultural Irrigation Area had the worst land cover condition. From the late 1980 s to 2000, the major land cover change was the conversion from forest and grassland to farmland, with the ecological grade transformed from the high grade to the low grade. From 2000 to 2008, the main land cover change was the conversion from cultivated land to forest and grassland, and the transition from low coverage grassland to high coverage grassland, with the ecological grade transformed from the low grade to the high grade. In the last 20 years, the land cover condition index and land cover change index indicated that the macro-ecological condition had experienced a slip period (1980 s to 2000 period LCCI-1.08), and then a meliorated period (2000 to 2008 period LCCI 2.66). This transformation was firstly driven by the climate change and population growth, and later was superimposed by the effect of ecological engineering.