Themes · The mountains
Two-thirds of the country is mountain, and hiking is a national passion. Trails are waymarked, free, reachable by subway or bus — and markedly steeper than they look on the map.
Updated 7 October 2026
Korean mountains are not high — the highest point is under 1,950 metres — but they go straight up. Few switchbacks: stairs of stone, wood or metal, sometimes ropes. An eight-kilometre hike can take five hours.
In return, everything is done to make the outing easy. National parks are free to enter, trailheads are served by public transport, signs are in English, and there is always a restaurant at the bottom to finish over a spring-onion pancake.
A national park of granite peaks on the capital's doorstep. Baegundae summit (836 m) is reached in two hours from the terminus of the Ui-Sinseol line; the last metres are done holding the handrail. Views over all of Seoul.
338 metres, right behind Gyeongbokgung. An hour's climb along the city wall for one of the finest views over the palaces and towers. Ideal at sunset.
The wall of the Joseon capital runs for eighteen kilometres along the ridges. The Naksan section is the easiest, the Baegak section the most beautiful.
A small mountain in the east, known for sunrise over the Han River. Easy, family-friendly.
In the south, wilder and rockier, with a hermitage clinging to a cliff at the top.
The most spectacular: granite needles, waterfalls, forests. Ulsanbawi rock takes three to four hours return and ends with a long metal staircase; Daecheongbong summit (1,708 m) needs a very long day.
Jeju's volcano, the country's highest point. The two trails that reach the crater, Seongpanak and Gwaneumsa, require a free online reservation and an early start; allow eight to nine hours. The Eorimok and Yeongsil trails, with no reservation, stop on the plateau and are the most beautiful.
The largest massif on the mainland, for multi-day hikes from shelter to shelter. Shelters must be booked ahead.
Fir forests and great temples. The path linking Woljeongsa and Sangwonsa temples, almost flat, follows a river for nine kilometres.
The autumn-colour destination par excellence, in early November. Packed at that time, and you understand why.
Above Gwangju, with its stone columns at the summit.
A network of coastal paths circling the island, in stages of half a day to a day. Little climbing, fishing villages, the sea always in view. Routes 7 and 10, on the south coast, are the most renowned.
An easy loop on UNESCO-listed walls, an hour from Seoul.
A mountain dotted with carved Buddhas and pagodas in the wild. An open-air museum you walk through.
A long-distance route along the entire east coast, from Busan to the border. To be walked in sections.
To prevent fires, some national-park trails close in spring (roughly mid-February to mid-May) and late autumn (mid-November to mid-December). The busiest routes stay open; check the national parks website.
Each trail has a time after which you are no longer allowed to set off, so that nobody comes down in the dark. In winter that can be as early as noon.
Only the Hallasan summit trails, a few sensitive areas and the shelters need booking.
Smoking and cooking are banned in all national parks, on pain of a fine. So is alcohol at summits and in shelters.
Proper shoes with a grippy sole: wet granite is slippery. Plenty of water, as springs are rare high up. In winter, light crampons. In Seoul, hiking centres for foreign visitors rent boots and clothing for a few thousand won at the foot of Bukhansan and Bugaksan.
Koreans hike en masse on Saturdays and Sundays, kitted out from head to toe. On weekdays you will have the mountain to yourself.