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.

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