By A great place to experience the beauty of Korea’s mountains that is really easy for people to access, especially GIs on Camp Casey, is Soyo-san Mountain. Soyo Mountain is the large ridgeline of peaks that tower over Camp Casey located adjacent to the Korean city of Dongducheon.
The summit of this mountain is only 587 meters and makes for a great day hike:
In the above map is my recommended itinerary to climb to the summit of the mountain while also checking out some of the other scenic attractions around the mountain. The hike begins by walking up the road towards the entrance gate from the parking lot located near the Museum for Freedom and Peacekeeping. The path up to the main park entrance is lined with beautiful trees:
In the spring and fall this tree line path can be quite scenic when the leaves change color. Adjacent to the path crystal clear creek of water flows, which on weekends with good weather, is very popular for locals to have picnic along:
At the entrance to the park you pay only a small admission fee of about $3.00 before passing through a gate and entering the park:
The path eventually turns into a trail that leads to the beautiful Wonhyo waterfall:
The waterfall is named after one of Korea’s most famous Buddhist monks, Wonhyo who established a hermitage on the mountain roughly 1,350 years ago. The area around the waterfall is usually quite busy with people having picnics and playing in the water, however if you plan to hike up the mountain you can quickly escape the crowds located around this waterfall.
From the waterfall look for the trail leading to Gongjubong peak. The trail up the mountain is densely forested and very steep:
It will take about 30-45 minutes depending on your fitness level to reach the top of the peak, but the views overlooking Camp Casey to the south are well worth it:
Below is a closer look at the city of Dongducheon outside the gates of Camp Casey, where if you look closely you can see the new subway station that represents where the infamous TDC Ville is located:
After finishing checking out the outstanding views from Gongjubong peak the trail continues eastward along the high rocky ridgeline towards the mountain’s highest point, Uisangdae peak:
Along the ridgeline trail make sure to keep you eyes open to spot the multiple remains of Korean War era bunkers still visible today:
During the opening days of the Korean War the ROK Army’s 7th Division fought a heroic battle against the North Korean 4th Division from the slopes of this mountain. Looking back towards the west, you see what a formidable position the ROK troops would have had defending this ridgeline:
From the summit of Soyosan’s highest point, the 587 meter Uisangdae Peak you have a great view of the chain of mountains that lie to the east of Camp Casey:
From the mountain’s summit the trail then heads up and over another high peak before beginning a steep descent down the side of the mountain. Something I always enjoy about Korean mountains is the amount of fresh water you can always find flowing from the mountain slopes. The trail descending Soyo Mountain is no different:
Often these streams flowing down the mountains end in spectacular waterfalls. The stream that follows the trail does as well:
This is the Cheongnyang waterfall located adjacent to the Jajaegom Temple which represents the end of the descent down the trail. The Jajaeam Temple was built in 645AD by the Buddhist monk Wonhyo during the rule of Shilla’s Queen Sondok:
Wonhyo may quite possibly be the most famous monk in Korean history and he reached enlightenment on Soyo Mountain when a Buddhist deity disguised as a beautiful woman tried to seduce Wonhyo. Wonhyo resisted the deity’s seduction and thus proved his enlightenment to the deity.
Besides the temple there is also an extremely scenic Buddhist cave:
Buddhist caves in Korea are extremely rare and thus being able to see one on Soyo Mountain adds to the uniqueness of this place.
The entire temple complex is not very large and can be seen in the below picture with the Buddhist cave located at the very end of the path:
Something I found weird later on was when a large group of Korean Christians descended on the temple and began to hold some kind of joint Christian-Buddhist service:
It was a little weird to see, but it looked like they were all having a good time. From the temple the walk back to the park’s entrance is an easy one since it all down hill and you have a chance to see some of the park’s various rock formations:
If you are stationed in the 2ID area I highly recommend visiting the park. It is a great day trip and an opportunity to see a part of the country that doesn’t involve the ville. The mountain is easily accessed by simply getting on the subway line number one and getting off at Soyosan Station. With the subway ending at Soyosan it is also easily accessed for those interested in visiting the mountain who live in Seoul as well. For those stationed on Camp Casey you can alternately ride your bike out gate two and be at the entrance of Soyosan in as little as 10 minutes.
However you get there, you are sure to have a good time.
8:00 am on January 26th, 2008 1
[...] writing my posting describing my visit to Soyo Mountain, I came across this very funny posting about the exploits of four drunk and stoned GIs on the [...]
11:47 pm on January 26th, 2008 2
As always, nice pics GI!!! I have some nice photos from Soyu-san as well, several of which were taken at the base of Wonhyo waterfall.
3:59 am on January 27th, 2008 3
Soyosan is really nice place to visit but I have always been amazed by how many people I have run into that have been stationed at Camp Casey and never visited the mountain.
5:38 am on February 27th, 2008 4
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10:37 pm on March 8th, 2008 5
Those stairs behind the temple were steep indeed. I highly recommend to trek these mt tops especially to our young Casey GIs. Next stop – Mt. Pulag, Benguet.
3:15 pm on December 2nd, 2008 6
I was at Camp Casey in May of this year (2008). I was only there for a few hours and I was unaware you could climb up the Mountain.If I ever go back I will try to hike up the trail. Your pictures are very nice. I was at this location back in 1954 with 7th Div.
1:26 am on December 3rd, 2008 7
It is a nice walk up the mountain and you get some great views of the surrounding area. I definitely recommend it if you are back in the area. I hope you enjoyed your visit back to Korea.
4:30 am on February 21st, 2009 8
I was stationed at Camps Casey & Hovey in 1972 & have great memories & some precious slides and made plenty of friends – GI's & Koreans. I did a lot of exploring in TDC, Seoul, Inchon & Cheju Do, but for some reason never climbed the big Mountain at Camp Casey.
I'm a lawyer & worked in JAG as a Spec 4 & have a master's degree in geography, but the geography of Camp Casey & the surrounding area remains a fascinating mystery to me. I never found any clear maps of the area & assumed that was intentional for reasons of military security.
5:12 am on February 21st, 2009 9
see previous comment
6:29 am on April 2nd, 2009 10
I used to visit Soyosan all the time, occasionally while on MP duty we would drive up in the jeep to check out the girls LOL. A friend of mine spent a day up there with some locals that killed a dog and made kaegogi out of him for dinner, he had the pictures to prove it yikes
12:24 am on April 11th, 2009 11
Spent 78-79 at Hovey. My bud Dave West and I backpacked up Soyo San one weekend in the fall and camped out on the summit. During the night (after a couple bottles of Jin Ro) the sirens went off in the valley and we watched our unit scramble and head out to the staging area (watched their headlights moving around). In the wee hours of the morning, they headed back to camp and we grabbed some sleep.
Walked the ridge the next day and then down to the Shrine/Cave. We had dinner their at a little restaurant next to the shrine…great meal. It was getting late so we grabbed a cab to head back to camp. True to form, the driver barrelled down the hill at 60 mph, people scattering to the left and right on the road. A ride I'll never forget.
9:05 am on July 31st, 2010 12
I was stationed at Camp Castle just below Soyosan and T'ong 'Du Cheon from April 1981 til my exit from the Army in June 1982. I spent many a days and nights meditating,enjoying the hikes and the local people up in Soyosan Village. I even met a buddhist priest at the summit who offered to teach me how to meditate and do proper breathing at a time whewn I had just lost 4 of my friends in my company at Camp Castle to a brutal cold blooded shooting at Ingram Range, Camp Casey JUne 5th, 1981. I was one of the 4 or 5 witnesses who testified throughout my tour, but it messed me up so much inside that to this day I still suffer from PTSD and anxiety related disorders.
It was the spiritual awakening I had while meditating on the steps of the temple where the Buddhist Priest Wonhyo often sat that led me to leave the military and seek out a life as a pacifist; one that that is difficult because of my disorder. I would have to say the experience was one of my most beautiful in my life.
Currently, I am living in Madison, Wisconsin and trying to get my Associate's Degree in Design. Hopefully I will land me a job that will afford me a trip back to Soyosan. I see the communities have changed a lot in 30 years. One of my best friends was Mr Park who took pictures at Camp Castle and sold them to the GIS, and also Kimmy an elderly gentleman who worked on the compound as a houseboy, and catered to my every need. He was a very gentle soul. I also miss Kim Yeung Jeun who was the KATUSA that shared a bunk in my room. We often called him AJ Peabody because with his glasses on, he looked like Mr Peabody the dog professor in cartoons, and he drove a 5 ton truck like AJ Foyt around mountain passes…
7:41 am on January 15th, 2011 13
7:42 am on January 15th, 2011 14
Mellenia Was My best friend we went there for a fiield trip and it was flabagastaring-Fun!!! Hey Mellenia
7:11 am on March 22nd, 2012 15
NICE MOUNTAIN, GREAT VIEW BUT WATCH YOUR FOOTING. MY DAUGHTER VISITED A WEEK AGO THOUGHT IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE. SHE FELL AND BROKE HER ANKLE. SHE WANTS TO RETURN ONCE HEALED AND WILL VISIT HERE AGAIN.