Chiaksan Birobong: Gangwon's 1,288 m Peak Few Foreigners Climb
Off Map Korea English-guided walking trips through Korea. Quiet trails, hidden villages, slow moments. Driver-only, self-guided. ▸ Plan a trip The ridge smelled of pine resin and cold granite — and we had it entirely to ourselves. It was a Tuesday in late October, and I was driving a couple from Edinburgh up Route 19 toward Chiaksan (치악산) National Park. The valley below was on fire — oak and maple going scarlet and amber — while the upper ridge held a thin line of snow from the night before. My clients had spent three days in Seoul ticking off Bukhansan. This, I told them, would feel like a different country. Chiaksan Birobong (비로봉) stands at 1,288 m and anchors the southern end of Gangwon Province, about 15 km east of Wonju city centre. It is the highest point in the park and, by most measures, one of the steepest sustained climbs in central Korea. Yet almost no foreign trekking content covers it. That absence is the reason I keep bringing people here. Why...