Haeparang Trail Best Sections: Top 3 Stages to Walk
You Don't Have to Walk All 770km
The Haeparang Trail runs the full length of Korea's east coast — from Oryukdo Skywalk in Busan all the way up to Goseong's Unification Observatory, just a few kilometres from the DMZ. It covers 50 stages, roughly 770 kilometres in total, and it would take most walkers around 35 days to complete end to end. Most people, including most Koreans, never attempt the full thing.
What they do instead — and what I've been helping foreign visitors do for several years now — is cherry-pick the stages that deliver the most dramatic coastal scenery, the quietest village paths, and the most satisfying day on foot. The problem is always transport. Many of the best trailheads sit far outside any town with a bus stop, and even the ones that do have buses run on schedules that make a day hike genuinely awkward. That's exactly the gap a private driver fills.
Below are the three Haeparang stages I recommend most often to guests. Not the most famous. Not the Instagram-viral ones. The ones that consistently produce the best walking days.
Stage 10: Hupo to Deokgu Beach (Around Yeongdeok)
What Makes It Special
This stage sits in Yeongdeok County, Gyeongbuk, and it's the stretch I describe to guests as 'the trail in its purest form.' You're on a narrow coastal path that alternates between pine-shaded cliffs, small fishing village lanes, and long stretches of open beach where the East Sea breaks hard against black rock. There are very few people. On a weekday in late spring or autumn you can walk two or three hours without seeing another trekker.
The path from Hupo Port to Deokgu Beach covers approximately 14 kilometres and climbs gently over two headland sections before dropping onto the final beach. Total ascent is modest — this isn't a mountain stage — but the headland sections require some attention and the path is not always paved. Good trail shoes or light hikers are appropriate; runners work fine on dry days.
The Yeongdeok Crab Factor
Yeongdeok is nationally famous for its snow crab (daege), and if you walk this stage between November and May you'll see the red crab-flag signs hanging outside nearly every restaurant in Hupo. I usually suggest clients start early, finish the walk by early afternoon, and then eat at one of the small hoetjip near the harbour before the drive back. A single large crab runs roughly 35,000 to 50,000 won depending on weight and season; a full crab set meal for two is closer to 80,000 to 100,000 won. It's worth every won.
Getting There Without a Car
Hupo is serviced by intercity buses from Pohang Bus Terminal, but the schedule is infrequent and the journey takes well over an hour. Getting from Deokgu Beach back to Hupo by public transport at the end of the walk — when you're tired and the next bus is two hours away — is miserable. A driver picks you up at Deokgu, no drama. That alone is the reason most foreign visitors who want this stage book a private vehicle.
Stage 23: Imwon Port to Mangyang-ri (Around Samcheok)
What Makes It Special
Samcheok is one of the most underrated coastal towns in Korea. Foreigners rarely come here unless they're serious trekkers or caving enthusiasts (Hwanseon Cave is nearby), and that obscurity is exactly what makes Stage 23 of the Haeparang so good. The path from Imwon Port north toward Mangyang-ri is around 12 kilometres and passes through terrain that feels genuinely remote: dense pine forest above wave-cut platforms, a long stretch past the Maengbang Beach camping area, and open ocean views with no development in sight for long sections.
The route also passes through Deoksan Beach, a small cove that almost nobody outside Gangwon Province knows about. There's a tiny seasonal snack stand there in summer; outside peak season it's deserted. That kind of solitude on a marked, well-maintained trail is rare anywhere in Northeast Asia, and I mean that without exaggeration.
Logistics and Timing
The trail is clearly waymarked with the Haeparang's blue signage and the occasional red-arrow post where paths fork near farmland. I give guests our printed stage map plus the Haeparang app (Korea National Park Service, free, available in Korean with enough English to be navigable). Walking pace for most fit adults is around four hours including stops.
Samcheok city itself is reachable by KTX from Seoul to [insert nearest KTX or ITX station name] and then a local bus or taxi, but the trailhead at Imwon Port adds another connection. A private driver from Seoul for a day trip makes this roughly a 3-hour drive each way, which works better as part of a multi-day Gangwon itinerary. We typically pair this stage with a night in Samcheok or Donghae.
What Guests Say
I had a couple from Switzerland walk this stage on a grey October morning when the sea was rough and the pine trees were being pushed sideways by the wind. They messaged me afterwards to say it was the best walk of their two-week Korea trip. They'd also done Bukhansan and a section of the Jeju Olle. That's the calibre of day this stage can produce when the conditions are moody and the trail is quiet.
Stage 44: Ayajin to Ganjeo Cape (Around Goseong)
What Makes It Special
This is the one I save for guests who specifically ask me: 'Where do most people not go?' Goseong County in northern Gangwon sits just below the DMZ and the tourist infrastructure thins out noticeably compared to Sokcho or Yangyang further south. Stage 44 of the Haeparang, running roughly 13 kilometres from Ayajin Port north toward Ganjeo Cape, passes through a coastal landscape that is genuinely different from anything further south on the trail.
The rock formations here — low, flat sheets of stone extending into the water like grey tilework — are distinctive, and the northern light in late afternoon gives the whole stretch a quality that photographers describe as 'flat and clean.' The fishing villages on this section are small, functional, and entirely untouched by tourism. You will not find a cafΓ© or a souvenir shop. You will find an elderly woman hanging squid to dry on a wooden rack and possibly a small shrine decorated with fishing floats.
The DMZ Context
Goseong's Unification Observatory — where the Haeparang Trail officially ends — is a few kilometres beyond Ganjeo Cape and is accessible to civilians with a simple registration process. I usually suggest guests who walk Stage 44 add a short vehicle transfer to the Observatory as a closing point to the day. Standing there, looking north at mountains that are technically North Korea, after a day of walking the eastern edge of the peninsula, creates a sense of place that's genuinely hard to replicate.
The Observatory entry involves a brief registration (passport required for foreigners; entry is generally free or a small fee of around 3,000 won) and there are restrictions on photography in certain directions. The driver parks outside the security checkpoint and waits. It adds perhaps 45 minutes to the day but significantly changes what the trip means.
Why This Stage Almost Never Happens Without Private Transport
Ayajin is not on a convenient bus route. Getting here from Sokcho — the nearest sizeable town with reasonable accommodation — requires either a local bus that runs a few times per day or a taxi that costs around 20,000 to 30,000 won one way. Getting back from Ganjeo Cape after the walk is substantially harder; there's no meaningful public transport serving that cape on a schedule that matches a day hike. This is the clearest example I can give of why the driver-only model exists: the place is beautiful precisely because it's hard to reach, and the vehicle is what makes 'hard to reach' into 'entirely doable.'
Practical Notes for All Three Stages
Best Seasons
Late April through early June and mid-September through November are the ideal windows. Summer (July to August) is hot, humid, and the coastal sections get crowded near beach areas. Winter stages are possible — the light is extraordinary and crowds are nonexistent — but some cliff-edge sections ice over and the wind off the East Sea is brutal. Dress in serious layers if you go in January or February.
What to Bring
- Trail shoes or light hikers (no need for full mountain boots on these three stages)
- Wind layer — the coast is exposed and conditions change fast
- Printed stage map plus the Haeparang app downloaded offline
- Cash — small village restaurants and parking areas rarely take cards
- At least 1.5 litres of water per person; resupply points are sparse on Stages 23 and 44
How the Driver-Only Model Works on This Trail
Our driver drops you at the start of whichever stage you've chosen, confirms the pickup point at the far end, and is available by phone throughout the day. For point-to-point stages like these — where start and end are different locations — a private vehicle is essentially the only rational solution unless you're walking the full trail over many days and shuttling gear. We can also combine two shorter stages into one longer day if fitness levels allow and the geography cooperates.
Pricing depends on departure point, mileage, and day structure. A full day out to Yeongdeok from Busan or Daegu, for instance, is a longer drive than the same day from Pohang. [Insert current pricing structure here before publishing.]
A Personal Note
I've driven the east coast corridor more times than I can count at this point, and every time I arrive at one of these trailheads in the early morning — before the trail signs are fully lit by sun, before the fishermen have finished sorting their catch — I understand exactly why I started this company. These places exist. They're accessible, signposted, and safe to walk solo with a map. The only thing standing between a foreign visitor and a genuinely extraordinary day on the Korean coast is the transport question. We answer that question. The trail does the rest.
Private vehicle + English-speaking driver + printed guidebook + GPS app included.
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