gayasan national park 가야산 국립공원

sangwangbong 상왕봉 1430meters

chilbulbong 칠불봉1433Meters

4.2km to the peak

📍Trailhead

My friend, Martha, and I recently made the 2.5 hour drive up to Gayasan National Park in hopes of seeing some more fall colors and getting in a good hike. Gayasan definitely did not disappoint! The trailhead started at Haeinsa temple. I’ve visited this temple several times in the past and knew that its setting is quite beautiful in fall, so I was excited to get up in the mountain behind it and see the views from above.

We made the decision to bypass the temple on the way up so we could get straight to the peak. Starting out, as we were walking through the temple entrance area there were tons of people, but once on the trail it was pretty quiet and we were treated to lots of fall colors and a fairly easy climb. Most national parks that I’ve hiked in Korea are quite tough, but getting to the peak of this one was easier than usual. The incline wasn’t too steep, nor the terrain overly rocky.

Nearing the top, there is a sign for a short off-shoot trail to see a standing stone Buddha. It’s only 50 meters from the trail, so of course I wasn’t going to skip it.

After a quick jaunt to check out the Buddha, I returned back to the main trail. From here, it got a bit steeper as we began to climb some stairs, but before we knew it, we arrived at a huge rock face to the left of the trail that was flat on top, making it the perfect spot for a snack and some photos. (This is also where the cover photo was taken).

Climbing up some more stairs for a short distance, we finally emerged above the trees. We were able to see the peak just 200meters ahead. The first 100meters is a bit of a rock scramble, but nothing too taxing or dangerous, followed by 100 meters of stairs for the final push to Sangwangbong. I should note that although Chilbulbong is the highest of the two peaks (by 3 meters), all of the trail signs point to Sangwangbong as being the “main” peak.

Once at the peak, we were treated to some pretty amazing views and the common line-up to the summit stone for picutres.

It was at this point, that Martha and I decided to split up and take alternate routes down. We met a hiker on the way up who told us about an “expert” course that we should have taken instead to make it a thru-hike. I was very intrigued by this course, so I opted to continue on and take a taxi back to Haeinsa, while Martha went back the way we came.

The distance to follow the trail to the Baegundong Information Center would take me about 4km, so the distance was pretty much the same as if I had returned to Haeinsa, but it was a much tougher hike. No regrets though, as the trail was very fun with some rock scrambling and lots of amazing views on the way.

The next stop for me was Chilbulbong! This is just 200 meters from where the last set of stairs to the peak began. This peak was less busy despite being so incredibly close the “main” peak. Of course, it could have just been the timing, but it appeared some people just didn’t bother going the extra 200 meters to reach Chilbulbong, which was mind-boggling to me.

Anyway, after Chilbulbong, I started to head in the direction of the Baegundong Information Center. As I went, I came across lots of stairs taking me up and down over rocky outcrops.

In a little over 1 kilometer, I arrived at an opening in the forest which had the trail entrance to take the Manmulsang “expert” Trail. From here, it was pretty easy going for a bit: lots of stairs and whatnot. Because of this, I was quite surprised that it was classed as an “expert” trail. It wasn’t until I reached a sign after a further 1.5km that I realized the “expert” part of the trail had yet to begin. I was merely making my way across the “advanced” portion.

It’s considered an expert course for the final 1.5km of trail, and although it was definitely harder than the previous leg, it is still quite doable for the average hiker. These days, I rarely get any muscle soreness post-hike, but I was a bit sore the following day from this course. Every bit of muscle soreness was more than worth it with the payoff from the views though.

There are so many amazing views along this route that I strongly suggest doing a straight thru-hike from Haeinsa . A taxi will cost you 25,000₩ to return to Haeinsa if you have a vehicle there. If you have a vehicle and want to save some taxi money, I’d suggest starting at the Baegundong Information Center and taking the Manmulsang “expert” Trail route there (marked in black on the map below) and return the same way, but take the parallel route as shown in orange. My friend Mike did this a week or two after me, and he said it was also a great trail. From the information center, the expert route is the one on the left (shown below)

No matter which route you take, this is not a hike to be missed!