OFF MAP KOREA-Outdoor Activity Information in Korea

Why Dobongsan, Not Just Bukhansan Most visitors to Seoul who hike head for Bukhansan's Baegundae Peak. Dobongsan is the quieter half of the same national park — the northern section, across the Uiryeong Pass from Bukhansan's main ridge — and it is the harder climb. The mountain is a cluster of granite peaks above Seoul's northern edge, in Bukhansan National Park, spanning Seoul and the Gyeonggi cities of Yangju and Uijeongbu. Its highest point is Jaunbong, about 740 metres, joined by Manjangbong (718 m), Seoninbong (708 m), Sinseondae (730 m), Jubong, Obong and Uiam Rock. Where Bukhansan offers one famous summit, Dobongsan offers a whole skyline of rock. The difference is texture. The lower slopes are forest and valley water. The upper mountain is bare granite: slabs, stairs, rails and chains. Seoninbong's cracked faces draw rock climbers — its routes include the Bat (Bakjwi) course — while walkers stay on the marked trail that threads between the peaks. It is a full ...

Gyeongju is often called a museum without walls, and the nickname holds up. The Silla kingdom ruled from here from 57 BCE to 935 CE — nearly a thousand years — and its tombs, temples, palace pond and observatory still stand where the capital stood. Two UNESCO listings cover the city: Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto, inscribed in 1995, and the Gyeongju Historic Areas, inscribed in November 2000 across five belts. You can walk the heart of it in two days, without rushing. Photo: Asadal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) — Dabotap Pagoda at Bulguksa Temple. Day One: Tombs, Observatory, and the Old Palace Quarter Start in the historic core, where everything sits close together. Daereungwon Tomb Complex holds 23 royal tombs of Silla, grass mounds rising from open parkland. The grounds are free and open 09:00–22:00, with last admission at 21:30. Inside, Cheonmachong Tomb — excavated in 1973 — is the only tomb in the complex open to the public. Its gold crown was found here; the origin...

Jeju does not reveal itself from a car window. It reveals itself at walking pace — past black basalt walls, tangerine orchards, fishing villages, and cliffs where the sea has been carving stone for over a million years. That is the idea behind the Jeju Olle Trail, a 437-kilometre network of 27 routes (21 main routes and 6 sub-routes) that circles the island on foot. Olle is a Jeju dialect word for the narrow alley that connects a home to the street, and the trail takes the metaphor seriously. Its first route opened in September 2007, after founder Suh Myungsook walked Spain's Camino de Santiago and returned determined to build something similar from Jeju's old village paths, farm roads, and coastal tracks. The result is less a single hike than a way of travelling: pick a route, walk it in a day, and let the island arrive slowly. How the trail works Navigation is deliberately simple. Blue arrows and ribbons mark the forward (clockwise) direction; orange marks the reverse. At fo...

There is a walk in Seoul that begins at a subway exit and ends, a few hours later, on a mountain ridge above the palaces. It follows a stone wall built in 1396, when the Joseon dynasty made Hanyang — today's Seoul — its capital. The wall runs 18.6 kilometres along four inner mountains, and the city has marked it as six walking sections. You can walk one section in an hour, or link them into a full circuit of the old capital. There is a good reason to go this week. On Saturday, October 17, the last restricted stretch of Mount Baegak — the wall's highest mountain — opens to the public. After nearly sixty years of phased reopening, the mountain's trails will be connected, and open around the clock. Photo: Tristan Surtel via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) Why now: Baegak's final stretch opens October 17 Mount Baegak, also known as Bugaksan, sits behind Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Blue House. Public access was restricted after North Korean commandos attempted to rai...

From most streets in northern Seoul, you can see it: a granite ridgeline standing above the apartment blocks. That is Bukhansan, the mountain north of the Han River, and its highest point, Baegundae Peak, rises 836.5 metres above the city. It is a full mountain day, reached by subway, with a Joseon-era fortress wall running along its ridges. For a first-time visitor who wants one serious hike inside Seoul, this is the obvious choice. Photo: 冥想 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) Why Bukhansan belongs on a Seoul trip Bukhansan was designated a national park in 1983, and it now sits almost entirely within the capital's northern edge. Its three main peaks are Baegundae (836.5 m), Insubong (810.5 m), and Mangyeongdae. Insubong is a rock-climbing destination with steep granite faces; Baegundae is the walker's summit, reached on foot by a marked trail. From the top, the view runs from the fortress ridges below to the Han River and the high-rises of central Seoul. There is no en...

Photo: Revi C. via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0 KR) Every country has a highest point that locals treat as a rite of passage. In Korea, it is Hallasan — a 1,947-metre shield volcano standing at the center of Jeju Island, crowned by the crater lake Baengnokdam and listed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes" (inscribed 2007). It is not a technical climb. But it is not a casual walk either: the summit trails require an advance reservation, a start well before dawn, and — from October through March — strict respect for winter cut-off times. This guide covers what a first-timer actually needs to know. Two routes reach the summit Of Hallasan's five official trails, only two go to the top. The others end at high ridges and are fine half-day walks, but the crater lake is reserved for those who commit to one of these: Seongpanak Trail (9.6 km one way, about 4.5 hours up). The standard choice for first-timers. It is the longest...