One of the best national parks in Korea where visitors can experience both Korea’s natural and cultural wonders is without a doubt Woraksan National Park. What makes this park even more special is that the park isn’t nearly as crowded as other national parks in country can often get at times. The beauty of the park was late to be recognized when it became Korea’s 17th national park in 1984, but its beauty today is not in dispute. The park borders the scenic Chungju Lake, is heavily forested, is littered with a variety of Buddhist temples, and features numerous steep rocky peaks to climb:

Due to its isolated location in the middle of the mountainous interior of South Korea the park is one of the least visited in all of Korea. The parks rural location has actually made it one of two areas in Korea where goral antelopes were released into the wild. The second area was Soraksan National Park. Ten of these antelope still are alive and well inside the park and are monitored with radio transmitters. So keep your eyes open if you intend to hit the trails here for these shy animals.

The best place to begin any walking around the mountain is to either drive or take a bus up the Songgye Valley and stop at the small city of Deokju. From this small hamlet there are a number of trails including a path to the mountain’s summit highlighted in red below:

A short walk down the path from Deokju leads visitors to the Dongmun Gate:

The gate is part of a walled fortress that stretches for 10 kilometers around the mountain that was first constructed in the 7th century during Korea’s Goryeo Dynasty:

This fortress dates all the way back to the 13th century and was used as a defensive perimeter against the invading Mongols. The fortress was later used again in 1592 during the first Japanese invasion of the peninsula. Though the fortress is mostly destroyed, the parts that remain are still interesting to look at and appreciate how old the construction is and the amount of history these walls have seen.

From the fortress the path continues toward Deokjusa Temple and is quite a pleasant walk:

Adjacent to the trail, crystal clear water trickles down a creek from the mountain peaks:

You would be hard pressed to find cleaner water in all of Korea than what can be found here on Woraksan mountain. The bluish color of the water in the area is really incredible at times especially when contrasted with the beautiful autumn colors:

Eventually the path ends at Deokjusa Temple. There is really not much to see or anything of much historical interest at this recently constructed temple. Across from the temple on the right side of the path, the trail head that is the official start point to climb Woraksan mountain begins. The trail was easy to follow as signs to Yeongbong peak, the 1097 meter summit of Woraksan mountain were easily visible along the path. The trail initially is very well maintained and includes many well built bridges and stairs to assist novice hikers who want to only hike up to see the stone Buddha carving which is located about 30 minutes up the trail:

The Buddha is also very old just like the fortress walls. However, no one knows for sure how old. Some suspect the carving is from the Goryeo dynasty which ruled Korea from 935-1392AD while other believe the carving was constructed during the Shilla dynasty that ruled before 935AD. Either way the carving is extremely old and an impressive sight to see since it stands as high as a four story building and is elaborately carved. It was definitely worth taking a rest stop at to view while climbing the mountain.

Past the Buddha carving the trail becomes much steeper and rockier. There are plenty of stairs and rock climbing to be done once I passed the Buddha carving which causes me to recommend a moderate level of personal fitness for anyone thinking of attempting this hike. Along the way views of the surrounding scenery begin to open which is especially spectacular to see in the autumn months:

After the first steep ascent after the carving and about 1.0 – 1.5 hours into your climb, the trail will begin to climb up a peak simply known as the 960 meter peak:

From the summit of the 960 meter peak there are spectacular views to include towards the northern summit of the mountain:

As the trail heads north towards the summit it passess through a densely forest ridgeline:

On this ridgeline and two hours into the hike I ran into the first hikers I had seen all day on the mountain:

This was a group of about eight hikers that were slowly but surely ascending up the mountain which I quickly passed. They would be the first and last hikers I would see until I reached the summit of the mountain. Like I said before, this is a great mountain to go to avoid crowds.

The trail along the ridge line is actually really nice as it passes through the thick forested terrain and eventually opens up to a ROK Army helipad where I had a great view of the Yeongbong peak where the summit of 1,097 meter summit of Woraksan is located:

When I looked closely at the summit I could actually see people who looked like little ants moving around up on the top of the mountain:

As I continued up the trail it became a little disheartening to begin to lose altitude as the trail headed down the mountain. Plus the trail began to take a circular route to reach the summit of the mountain. Before long I reached the trail that would take me to the summit. The trail was basically just an endless stair climb to the top of the mountain:

Expect your calf muscles to get quite a work out on this mountain. As the trail ascended up the mountain I was awarded with great views to the south where I could easily make out the heavily forested trail along the ridgeline and even the ROK Army helicopter pad:

Before long the stair climbing began to approach the summit of the mountain:

From the summit all the stair climbing paid off because I was rewarded with a great view of the surrounding Chungcheongbuk-do country side:

There is not one highrise building in site; just tress, hills, farm land, and the beautiful Chungju-ho lake:

Better yet is the fact there is no huge crowd on the summit unlike other popular Korean mountains where you feel more like you are at a rock concert than on a mountain with the amount of people swarmed around you. Not on Woraksan, it was just me and a handful of other climbers just enjoying the spectacular view.

Also on top of the mountain is this marker that officially designates that I had reached the 1,097 meter summit:

Just passed the marker I could see the lovely Songgye Valley where I started the hike down below me:

From the mountain’s summit the views of Korea’s endless ranges of mountains is really just breathtaking:

People often ask me why I like Korea so much and to be honest it is for a variety of reasons, but with beautiful views like this how can I not love this place:

If you want to enjoy these views too, all you have to do is take a bus to the city of Chungju and from the Chungju bus station take one of the buses that regularly run to Woraksan National Park and get off at the Deokjusa stop. If you are driving from Chungju, take Highway 36 that skirts the south side of the Chungjuho Lake and take a right once you hit the intersection with local road 597 that runs through the Songgye Valley to the Deokjusa trail head.

Bring plenty of water and warm jacket because it can get cold on the summit of the mountain even in summer. Expect to complete the hike up and back down the mountain in about 5-7 hours depending on your level of fitness. So get out of the city and get some fresh air, exercise, and maybe even see an antelope on this fantastic mountain.