Hallasan โ€” volcano
Image by tobatoppers from Pixabay

Hallasan

  • Elevation1,947 m
  • 1 min read
  • 33.350ยฐ N 126.517ยฐ E

Interesting facts

  • The crater lake's name, Baengnokdam, means White Deer Lake, after a legend of celestial beings descending to play with white deer.
  • A popular folk interpretation holds that the name Hallasan describes a mountain high enough to pull down the Milky Way.
  • The summit crater is over 400 metres across, with basalt on its eastern wall and a trachyte lava dome forming the western wall.
  • About 20 of the island's volcanic cones are tuff rings, formed where rising magma met water and exploded.
  • Hallasan holds the largest wild population of the Korean fir, the tree now popular in gardens worldwide.
  • Because it climbs from the coast to nearly 2,000 metres, its vegetation runs from subtropical at the base to alpine at the summit.
  • Older Western maps called the mountain Mount Auckland.
  • Islanders have a saying that Jeju is Hallasan and Hallasan is Jeju.
  • The Gwaneumsa temple on its slopes was destroyed in 1702, lay abandoned for two centuries and was rebuilt in 1908.
  • It became Korea's Natural Monument No. 182 on 12 October 1966.

Why it is worth it

Hallasan, at 1,947 metres the highest mountain in South Korea, is the broad volcano that forms most of Jeju Island. It rises from the sea in long, gentle slopes typical of a shield volcano, and at its summit a crater holds the lake of Baengnokdam, roughly 2 km around and up to about 100 metres deep. Scattered across its flanks are some 360 smaller parasitic cones, known in the local language as oreum, which give the island its distinctive skyline of rounded hills.

The volcano is still classed as active, since it has erupted within the last ten thousand years. Historical records describe an eruption in 1007, and geological evidence points to activity at least around 2,000 years ago. The mountain supports a rich and distinct natural life: about 50 plant species found nowhere else, 121 species of birds and some 4,300 species of insects have been recorded here.

Hallasan was designated a natural monument of Korea in 1966, and the mountain and its surroundings form Hallasan National Park. In 2007 it became one of the three components of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes. Five trails climb the mountain, and two of them, from Seongpanak and from Gwaneumsa, reach the summit, at distances of 9.6 km and 8.7 km. The mountain is also home to the temple of Gwaneumsa, regarded as the oldest Buddhist temple on the island, first built in the Goryeo period.

Getting there

Hallasan stands in the centre of Jeju Island, about 12 km from the city of Seogwipo on the south coast. The nearest airport is Jeju International Airport (CJU), about 18 km away near Jeju City on the north coast.

Plan your visit

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Nearby places

On these lists

The Most Beautiful Places in Jeju 5The Most Beautiful Places in South Korea 21The Most Beautiful Natural Wonders in South Korea 5The Most Beautiful Volcanoes 61The Most Beautiful Natural Wonders 580

From the encyclopaedia

Hallasan (Korean:ย ํ•œ๋ผ์‚ฐ) is a shield volcano comprising much of Jeju Island in South Korea. Its summit, at 1,947ย m (6,388ย ft), is the highest point in the country. The area around the mountain is a designated national park, named Hallasan National Park. Hallasan is commonly considered to be one of the three main mountains of South Korea, along with Jirisan and Seoraksan.

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33.35000, 126.51667per Wikidata