Juwangsan's 12 km Loop: Past the Falls, Into the Deep Gorge
The waterfall crowds thin out fast past Yongchu 3.
Wet granite, the damp-leaf smell of a gorge after rain, the hollow knock of your boots on a wooden footbridge — Juwangsan (주왕산) earns its reputation before you've even cleared the first kilometre. But most visitors turn around at Yongchu Falls (용추폭포) and never see what waits deeper in.
That's exactly the gap this post is here to fill. The full loop — roughly 12 km, 5 to 6 hours moving — takes you through Jubong valley, up to the ridgeline at Gawoljae pass, and back down past Jeoldal valley in a quiet circuit that almost no foreign visitor walks. It is not a hard trail. It is only an overlooked one.
Step 1 — Getting to Juwangsan Trailhead (and Why Public Transport Fails You Here)
Juwangsan National Park sits near Cheongsong (청송), a county in North Gyeongsang Province that public transport reaches only barely. The closest train station is Andong, roughly 60 km away. From Andong bus terminal there is a regional bus to Cheongsong, and from Cheongsong you need another bus to Daejeonsaji (대전사지) — the temple at the trailhead. On a good day that sequence takes over 2 hours and depends on schedules that change seasonally.
This is the main reason we drive clients here directly. A door-to-door ride from Seoul takes about 3 hours by highway, dropping you at Daejeonsaji car park (주차장) by 9:00 if you leave the capital by 6:00. That early start matters: you want to be past the falls before the tour coaches arrive around 10:30.
Step 2 — The First 3.2 km: Temple to Yongchu 3 Falls
Start at Daejeonsaji, the Goryeo-era temple complex whose three-storey pagoda dates to 1370. Walk through the gate, keep the stream on your left, and follow the paved inner road as it narrows into a dirt path. The gorge walls close in noticeably after about 700 m — the cliffs here are tuff and rhyolite, rust-red and deeply eroded, and they press close enough that sunlight hits the trail floor for only a few hours each day.
Yongchu 1 Falls (yongchu ilpok, about 1.5 km in) is a modest curtain drop of roughly 5 m. Continue past it to Yongchu 2 and then Yongchu 3, the tallest at approximately 20 m, where a wooden platform lets you stand face-on to the fall. This is where 80 percent of visitors stop, photograph, and retrace. Note the time: from the temple gate, 3.2 km should take you 50 to 60 minutes at a relaxed pace.
Step 3 — The Gorge Deepens: Yongchu 3 to Jubong Valley Junction (2.8 km)
Past Yongchu 3, the paved path disappears entirely. The trail becomes compacted earth and exposed root, and the gorge narrows until you can touch both walls by stretching your arms at certain choke points. This is where the day-trippers vanish and the trail becomes genuinely yours.
Follow the blue trail markers (파란색 표지) northeast along the stream. You will cross the water on stepping stones twice before reaching the Jubong valley junction sign at roughly 6 km total. Fill your water bottle here from the stream if you have a filter — this is the last reliable water source before the climb. The national park office confirms the water quality is generally good, but treat it regardless.
One contrarian note on trekking poles
Most guides say poles are optional on Juwangsan because the elevation gain is low. The lower gorge is an exception. The stepping-stone crossings after Yongchu 3 are slick with algae from April through October, and a pole on your downstream side gives you a meaningful third contact point. Bring them.
Step 4 — The Climb to Gawoljae Pass (1.8 km, +320 m)
Turn left at the junction and begin the only sustained climb of the loop. The path gains about 320 m over 1.8 km through a mixed pine and oak forest that smells sharply of resin on warm afternoons. It is steep enough to slow you but never technical. Allow 50 to 60 minutes.
Reach Gawoljae (가월재), a saddle at approximately 570 m elevation, and stop. The ridge view northeast toward Geumo Mountain and south back into the valley is the quietest view in the park — no railings, no signs, usually no other people. Eat lunch here. Come in October and the oak canopy is full amber.
Step 5 — Descent via Jeoldal Valley Back to the Temple (4.2 km)
The descent follows the Jeoldal valley trail southwest, rejoining the main valley path about 800 m north of Daejeonsaji. This side of the loop sees even less foot traffic than the gorge. The trail surface is looser stone, so take the descent steadily — about 70 minutes for most people. You rejoin the main track near a small rest pavilion (정자) and then it is a flat 800 m walk back to the car park.
Total loop: 12 km. Total moving time: 5 to 5.5 hours. Add 30 minutes for photos at the falls and lunch at Gawoljae and you are back at the trailhead by 15:30 if you started at 09:00 — well clear of the last return bus from Cheongsong, for those who came by public transport.
Step 6 — Practical Numbers Before You Go
National park entry is 3,000 KRW per adult. Parking at Daejeonsaji is 2,000 KRW for up to 2 hours, 5,000 KRW for a full day. There is a small noodle shop outside the park gate that opens at 08:00 — eat a bowl of kalguksu (칼국수) before you start; the trail has no food vendors past the temple. Trail maps in Korean and English are pinned to the information board at the gate; take a photo before you move.
The best walking months are late April through early June (before peak humidity) and mid-September through early November. Avoid July and early August — the gorge path floods quickly and the national park sometimes closes the inner trail after heavy rain.
A Note on Getting Here With Us
We drop clients at Daejeonsaji by 09:00 and return at an agreed pickup time — usually 15:30 or 16:00. We also stop at Andong Hahoe village or the Cheongsong traditional market on the drive back if the schedule allows. Booking is by private vehicle; no group minibuses.
The last time I waited at the Daejeonsaji car park for a client finishing the full loop, a local halmeoni (할머니) descended the Jeoldal trail alone with a wicker basket and a walking stick cut from a chestnut branch. She had done that circuit, she told me, 'hundreds of times.' Ask for the sansho-garnished jeon at the noodle shop outside the gate on your way out — she recommended it, and she was right.
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