Few megacities as huge as Seoul can boast a natural national park that extends right into the city.
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Just take a few subway stations from the city centre to the northern edge of Seoul and a majestic yet compact mountain range of granite rounded cliffs will open up before you. The entire national park is criss-crossed with a network of well-maintained and well-marked hiking trails.
Official National Park website: english.knps.or.kr
A pristine landscape of granite cliffs
The Bukhansan Mountains are captivating at first sight of the photogenic rounded granite massifs that tower over Seoul. Bukhansan is not large in size and its height is not impressive either. After all, the highest mountain , Baegundae , climbs to just 837 metres.
Nevertheless, Bukhansan impresses with its fairy-tale landscape of pine forests, mountain rivers and rock blocks, from which there are magnificent views of the whole wide surroundings.
Hiking trails in Bukhansan
The national park is literally crisscrossed with dozens of kilometres of hiking trails. Their popularity is so great that some trails are often closed on summer weekends to enhance conservation. However, in this case, you can usually just take the metro to another part of the mountains where the trails are open.
The hiking trails are well signposted and the most important descriptions can be found in English. The trails are also well maintained.
In the lower parts of the park, where even seniors and small children head, there are comfortable paths with very frequent benches and picnic spots, and at the highest parts, where a bit of rock climbing is required, there are assigned railings and possibly artificial stairs.
The average untrained hiker can make it around all the marked trails in Bukhansan, including the trek to the highest peak of Baegundae.
Facilities on the trails
You will find free toilets at all major crossings. In the heart of the national park you will come across several mountain huts with refreshments or even classic restaurants.
At the trailheads still in Seoul, you can buy full hiking gear in many shops.
Entrance fees and opening hours
The trails are free to access. Officially, the park is open from 4:00 am to 5:00 pm, but there are no gates to prevent entry. However, mountain service is in operation during these times.
Accommodation in Bukhansan National Park
You won't find any mountain guesthouses directly in the mountains, but you can stay on the outskirts of Bukhansan in the northern part of Seoul. These districts are among the quieter ones and if you want to explore the natural beauty of Seoul and the surrounding area in particular, we can definitely recommend accommodation here.
- ChaeUm Vill - private villa with modern facilities in the northern part of Seoul, about 400 metres from the first hiking trails
- Shine Hotel *** - small modern hotel just a few subway stops from the main tourist routes with excellent prices even under 37 eur per night
Transportation to Bukhansan
From the centre of Seoul you can reach the beginnings of the hiking trails by bus and metro. There are four main entry points.
- At Bukhansan Ui station (location: google.com/maps) - the UI line of the automatic subway, connects for example to routes 1, 4 and 6
- Buses 101, 109, 120, 144, 151, 163 and 1144 also go to this station.
- shortest route to the highest mountain Baegundae
- At Dobongsan station (location: google.com/maps) - blue line 1 and brown line 7
- buses of lines 7, 36, 56, 72, 72-3, 106, 107, 118, 133, 140, 141, 142, 150, 160, 1127 and 1128 also go to the station
- At Bukhansanseong Fortress (location: google.com/maps) - take the orange metro line number 3 to Gupabal station, where you can take buses 34 or 704 and drive about 15 minutes to the Bukhansanseong Fortress Entrance stop
- In the Jeongneung district (Location: google.com/maps) - take the Bukhansan UI automatic subway to Bukhansan Bogungmun station, then take buses 110A or 110B for about 5 minutes to the terminus
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