Janggunbong Peak: Geumeungwangi Course

Dogs No Dogs

Features Fall Colors · Geological Significance · Historical Significance · River/Creek · Views · Waterfall

Juwangsan National Park is a small mountainous park in South Korea that is uniquely NOT part of the Baekdudaegan ridge-line range. For this reason, and perhaps because it is dwarfed by many of the other parks in size and elevation, it has a quieter, more secluded feel.

There are four main features in this National Park and this trail will bring you through two of them. The ones you'll miss are a large manmade pond and the ridgeline of Juwang mountain itself.

This hike combines the Janggunbong ridge-line hike with the standard valley/waterfall hike through the center of the park.

There are some bathrooms along the valley trail, none on the ridge. Water from the river is available, but no water up on the ridge-line either.

The road leading into the park is lined with cafes and restaurants, so plenty to eat and drink before/after depending what time you start and finish. There is a campground near the entrance that you can reserve online at reservation.knps.or.kr/fore…

There is no wilderness/backcountry camping permitted here, just like all the other National Parks.

There is a small fee to enter the park when you pass the temple.

Lastly, there is a "forest library" along the valley trail. I'm not sure what it is for, I was there in winter so it wasn't open. There is a coffee shop near the campground on the north side of the river that was really cool, and had great coffee, I stopped there every night for the three nights I camped there.

This hike can be done either direction, I have done both, and each is good. One way or another you'll see the ridgeline views from Janggunbong, and the waterfalls and deep valley of the primary park trail. The trails are extremely well marked, so there is little direction finding or clues that you might need from this description.

The entrance to the park is marked by a small temple underneath this parks signature geologic feature, which is a cluster of lava cones that have been revealed over time by erosion.

The hike up to Janggunbong is very steep, with many stairs. Once up on the ridge, there are good views of the valley and the uniquely-shaped lava cones as you walk along towards the end of the valley.

Once you get to where the end of the valley meets the ridge, it's downhill through a deep gorge with some small waterfalls and steep cliffs on either side.

Overall, this is a very straightforward hike, good exercise and good scenery. It is not very grandiose, but has a more intimate feeling.