Samcheonsa - Nawolbong - Yongchulbong

Dogs No Dogs

Features Fall Colors · Views · Wildflowers

This particular route is not very popular due to some steep, easy scrambling sections, some poorly marked inlet/outlet trails, and no views of Seoul City. This eliminates a great deal of the casual hiking population in the city. Consequently, it is often quiet, making it fantastic for speedsters who like like the excitement of a fast scrambly hike or mountain run. Views are less urban, but still beautiful.

There are some slight scrambles, very minor exposure, and areas with slightly difficult route-finding. This route is a little more adventurous than many others in Bukhansan National Park.

Normal day-use of the park is no-cost. I don't know about parking, as I always took the subway or buses. No camping, although you may see signs of people having camped before.

The best advice I can give to the English-speaking crowd is use Google maps or Daum maps to route yourself to the subway stop nearest the trailhead and use the satellite imagery feature on your phone to find the trailhead. This route is not well marked, and I'm submitting this 2 years after I visited, so my memory isn't helping a lot. Subway maps and satellite imagery were my best friends when I was just getting out and hiking around Korea.

From there, follow the trails sticking to the crest of the ridges, making your way southeast to the central "spine" ridge, then back around to the northwest. The trail once again becomes poorly marked at the end, and it just pops out in a small neighborhood out of nowhere. Kinda cool. Make your way back to the nearest subway station and head home!

This hike is comprised of less-maintained trails. If you search the Internet there are some English-language guides to various ‘courses’. Korean for trail/route/course is almost always 길 which is one word meaning any designated avenue of travel, including streets etc. They don’t have separate words for types of trails, but will add words beforehand to specify, such as 암벽 등반 길 “rock wall climbing way” for a technical rock route, or 등산 길 “hiking/mountaineering way”.

This hike is not a designated course, but with such a huge population that loves hiking, it looks as maintained as a formal trail in the USA. The park does not prohibit the use of undesignated trails; however if they rope off an area to allow regrowth, don’t go in. The official courses can get so crowded on weekends, especially in the fall, that there are actual standstill lines to get to the famous sites/summits. As such, a less popular hike like this is a good option!