Seoraksan National Park

Seoraksan is the mountain that gives the national park its name, a ridge of pale granite in Gangwon Province on South Korea's east coast. Its highest point, Daecheongbong, reaches 1,708 metres, making it the tallest summit of the Taebaek range and the third highest mountain in the country after Hallasan and Jirisan. What sets it apart is not height but texture: the granite has weathered into needles, fins and serrated crests, and between them run clear streams over smooth slabs, small gorges and waterfalls. The area became a national park in March 1970 and a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1982, and its forests shelter rarities such as the long-tailed goral, a shy mountain goat-antelope.

The best-known silhouette is Ulsanbawi, a long, crenellated wall of granite rising above the eastern valley; reaching the top means a climb that ends on a staircase of roughly 888 steps, and from there the view runs down to Sokcho and the East Sea. Further inside, Gongnyongneungseon, the "Dinosaur Ridge", is a knife-edge of jagged spires that takes most of a day to traverse and is protected as one of Korea's scenic sites. There are quieter details too: Heundeulbawi, a boulder about five metres high that a few people can make rock gently on its base, and Biseondae, a broad rock platform in a mountain stream where the water slides over polished granite. Towangseong Falls, dropping in stages down a cliff deep in the massif, is considered the tallest waterfall in South Korea.

People have come here for centuries as pilgrims rather than hikers. Sinheungsa, the Buddhist temple at the main eastern entrance, is greeted by a seated bronze Buddha about 14.6 metres high, cast as a prayer for the reunification of Korea, and smaller hermitages are tucked into the valleys higher up. A cable car rises from near the temple to a ridge crowned by the remains of Gwongeumseong, a small mountain fortress, which gives a sweep of the outer peaks without a long climb. Autumn is the great season, when the forested slopes below the bare granite turn red and gold and the trails fill with walkers.

Getting there

The main Seorak-dong entrance is about 18 kilometres from the coastal city of Sokcho. From Sokcho Express Bus Terminal, local buses 7 and 7-1 run to the park entrance at Sogongwon in roughly 20 to 30 minutes, and Sokcho itself is linked to Seoul by frequent express buses. The nearest airport is Yangyang International Airport (YNY), about 23 kilometres away. The southern and inner valleys, such as Osaek and Baekdamsa, are reached by separate roads on the other side of the massif.