(Yeongnam Alps 9 Peaks 영남알프스 9 봉)

• Jaekaysan 재약산 1108 meters

• cheonhwangsan 천황산 1189 meters

11.6km Loop

📍trailhead

I set off for another weekend in an attempt to knock off three more mountains from the list for the Yeongnam Alps 9 Peaks Challenge. The plan was to hike Jaeyaksan & Cheonhwangsan on Saturday, with Munboksan on Sunday morning. Spoiler alert: Sundays’s hike never happened since my knees were dying from the descent down Cheonhwangsan…more on that later.

I’ll start this post with my garmin stats for those who are just looking for the very basics and then go from there. Note: I think the pace would have been much faster had I chosen to backtrack after Cheonhwangsan, but I ended up opting for a loop which took me down a verrrry steep trail that was full of loose rocks that really slowed me down. I’d definitely recommend backtracking and avoiding that trail if possible.

The trail starts at Pyochungsa (Temple). There is a large parking lot, but you must pay for the entrance (which also includes the temple admission. I paid 5000₩ for me and my small car.

You can head into the temple and take a look around or just get straight on the trail by following the road to the right of the temple entrance. I went into the temple grounds to have a quick peek first and then entered the trail within the first gates of the temple complex next to the coffee shop.

The trail starts out as a roadway, just follow the road and cross as the wooden bridge. It’s 5.2km to the peak of Jaeyaksan, with a few gorgeous waterfalls along the way.

This was definitely a tough hike up. The starting elevation is less than 200 meters so you have a lot of elevation gain to get to the peak. The trail is quite pretty with wooden bridges to cross over the stream and plenty of stairs going up. The first first waterfall is only 2km from the start: Heungnyong Falls (흑룡폭포) …aka Black Dragon Falls. They are a two-tier set of waterfalls and really are quite impressive with a huge viewing platform to take it all in.

From here, continue along the trail, there will be more stairs and some more pretty (unmarked) mini waterfalls along the way.

The next set of waterfalls is Gunyong Falls (구룡폭포).

Shortly after that you’ll arrive at the last set of falls: Cheungcheung Falls (층층폭포). You'll have a view from the bridge, but once you cross over to the large platform, the view is even more impressive.

From here, you'll have just over 2km to reach Jaeyaksan. Follow the trail and it won't be long until you reach a gravel roadway. From here, turn left and follow the roadway.

Once you reach the large wooden sign pictured below, follow the trail straight ahead next to the sign. This will take you through the fields of silver grass.

There are plenty of trails scattered throughout the silver grass field, just continue to head for Jaeyaksan.

After the field area you’ll be back to another narrow gravel roadway. Continue to follow the signs heading for Jaeyaksan (재약산)

It was at this point that I met another hiker who “warned” me of the stairs. I replied with something along the lines of “yeah I know, there were tons of them”, because I thought he was talking about the route I had taken. If you thought that you had already taken a lot of stairs, oh lord…be prepared. I’ve never in my life encountered so many stairs on a hike after this point. It felt as thought it was never ending.

Eventually, you’ll reach the peak and get some really great views.

From here you can see Cheonhwangsan and there is a little less than 2km to reach the next mountain. You’ll have to climb down and then back up again, but overall it felt easy in comparison to all of those stairs. There are plenty of pretty spots to stop along the way for a lunch break with some fantastic views.

Once you reach Cheonhwangsan you have the option to take a 4.8km trail directly back to the temple where you started. This is what I did, because I generally like a looping hike and it was a shorter distance than backtracking. BUT if I had to do it over again, I would have 100% backtracked the way I came. The trail down was extremely steep, full of loose gravel, and almost completely empty. Although it was shorter to return, it was killer on the knees and I could have been so much faster taking the stairs back down.

There isn’t much to say for the trail down if you decide to take that way. But one thing to consider is at some point you’ll have to cross over a large rockfall area. It was pretty difficult to follow the trail, but if you look closely you can see tags in the trees.

It’s “only” 3.7km of steep trail, and then the last 1.1km is roadway and quite easy to follow back. Two more off the list for my goal to complete the Yeongnam Alps 9 peaks! Although I’m sure the view is beautiful any time of year, I really recommend trying to visit during “silver grass season” in October.