Mountain park · Seoul, Gyeonggi

Bukhansan National Park

북한산국립공원

A proper granite mountain inside Seoul, reachable by subway in under an hour.

Bukhansan sits on the northern edge of Seoul, which makes it one of the few national parks on earth you can reach on the metro. Baegundae, the high point at 836.5m, is a scramble up chains and railings on to bare granite with the whole city laid out below.

Three granite summits give the mountain its older name, Samgaksan — the three-horned mountain. Baegundae is the highest, with Insubong at 810.5m and Mangnyeongdae at 799.5m beside it; Insubong's sheer face is the best-known rock-climbing crag in the country.

Roughly five million people walk here every year. Spread over 79.92 km² that works out as the most visited national park per unit area anywhere on earth, which is a Guinness World Record and, on a Saturday, an experience.

The ridgeline still carries long stretches of Bukhansanseong, the mountain fortress completed in 1711 to shelter the court in a crisis. Being this close to a city of ten million, it is busy — go early, and go on a weekday if you can.

Getting there from Seoul

Door-to-door estimates for a normal day; they stretch on a holiday weekend. Check the timetable before you rely on a last bus back.

Train
Subway line 3 to Gupabal for the Bukhansanseong entrance, then bus 704. Or line 4 to Suyu, or Uireung on the Ui LRT for the eastern side. Under an hour from central Seoul either way.
Bus
City buses reach every entrance; you will not need an intercity coach for this one.
Car
Possible but pointless. Parking is limited and the subway is faster.

Wildlife & plants

Animals

Wild boar, weasels, raccoon dogs and Siberian chipmunks, plus a surprising number of raptors riding the thermals off the granite.

Trees & flowers

Pitch pine and Korean red pine on the thin soil over the granite, with oak in the valleys. Royal azalea in May and maple in late October, both busy.

Korea’s wildlife is shy and mostly nocturnal — you’re far more likely to see tracks than animals. Wild boar are the one to know about: keep your distance, don’t run, and never get between a sow and her young.

What grows and lives here

The mountain up close

Thin soil over bare granite decides most of what survives on Bukhansan: Korean red pine on the ridges, oak down in the valleys, azalea in May and maple at the end of October. The animals are the ones that cope with a city on three sides.

Granite peaks of Bukhansan seen along a ridge, with wild azaleas flowering pink in the foreground — Baegundae from the ridge, azaleas out
Bukhansan
Photo by Nagyman, CC BY-SA 2.0

Korean red pines growing out of a granite ridge above Seoul, with a rope-railed path and the city hazy below — Korean red pine on the granite, Seoul below
Inwangsan, Seoul
Photo by Gaël Chardon, CC BY-SA 2.0

Pale pink azalea flowers in close-up against dark green leaves — Azaleas in bloom, March
Pyeongchang-dong, at the foot of Bukhansan
Photo by Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han), CC BY-SA 2.0

A low rosette of grey-green leaves with small yellow flowers growing directly out of bare granite — Rock cinquefoil, growing straight out of the granite
Bukhansan
Photo by Eggmoon, CC BY-SA 3.0

A Siberian chipmunk with dark back stripes standing on a boulder — Siberian chipmunk — the one you will actually see
Gyeongju, South Korea
Photo by J. Patrick Fischer, CC BY-SA 3.0

A wild boar standing in leaf litter between tree trunks, facing the camera — Wild boar — the one to give room to
Photographed in Europe; the species is the same
Photo by Byrdyak, CC BY-SA 4.0

If you meet a boar

Wild boar come down off the mountain into the northern districts of Seoul often enough that the city issues warnings about it. Don’t run, don’t shout and don’t get between a sow and her young. Back away slowly, keep something solid between you and the animal if you can, and give it a clear way out — a boar that feels cornered is the one that charges.

Walking it

The six marked courses

Seoul’s city government numbers and measures six routes through Bukhansan. Four of the six are graded advanced, which is worth taking seriously: this is a granite mountain with chains and handrails on it, not a park walk, and the subway station at the bottom makes it easy to underestimate.

1. Baegundae–Ui Gugok

Sweeping views of Seoul

Distance: 9.98 km
Time: 4 hr 20 min
Grade: advanced

Route: Seoul Hiking Tourism Center → Chanunbong → Baegun Visitor Center → Haroojae Pass → Yeongbong (604m) → Baegundae (836.5m)

Getting to the start: Ui-Sinseol LRT to Bukhansan Ui (Doseonsa), exit 2, then about five minutes on foot to the Seoul Hiking Tourism Center.

The shortest way to the summit, which is not the same as the easiest. Haroojae Pass up to Yeongbong is steep and slippery — gloves, poles and the handrails. There are no shelters on this one, so take your rest at Haroojae before the final push.

2. Bukhansanseong–Daenammun

The one most people do

Distance: 10.2 km
Time: 4 hr 10 min
Grade: advanced

Route: Bukhansanseong Visitor Center → Daeseomun → Muryangsa → Bukhandong History Museum → Daedongsa → Baegunbongammun

Getting to the start: Subway line 3 to Gupabal, exit 2, then bus 704. The visitor centre is about 700m from the stop.

Ten kilometres of climb and descent through the fortress and its temple sites. Detouring via Mangyeongdae makes it longer but less steep. Ten minutes’ rest in every hour is the official advice, and it is good advice.

3. Samobawi–Bibong

Hiking through history

Distance: 6 km
Time: 3 hr
Grade: advanced

Route: Gugi Visitor Center → Seungasa → rock-carved seated Buddha → Samobawi Rock → Bibong

Getting to the start: Subway line 3 to Bulgwang, exit 2, then bus 7212 to the Seungasa entrance.

Short but genuinely steep. The gravel path above Seungasa splits — left for Bibong, right for Samobawi Rock — and doing Bibong first saves a lot of backtracking.

4. Samcheonsa

The gentlest of the six

Distance: 7.33 km
Time: 2 hr 40 min
Grade: average

Route: Samcheon Visitor Center → Samcheonsa → Seungabong → Samobawi Rock → Jingwansa

Getting to the start: Subway line 3 to Gupabal, exit 3, then bus 7723 — seven stops. About nine minutes up the road from the stop.

Begins and ends at temples over a thousand years old: Samcheonsa founded in 661 under Silla, Jingwansa in 1011 under Goryeo. The descent from Samobawi to Jingwansa is steep, with handrails and cables.

5. The 12 gates of Bukhansanseong

The full circuit

Distance: 14.4 km
Time: 6 hr
Grade: advanced

Route: Bukhansanseong Visitor Center → Uisangbong → Gasadangammun (gate 1) → Yongchulbong → Yonghyeolbong → Jeungchwibong → round the wall

Getting to the start: Subway line 3 to Gupabal, exit 2, then bus 34 or 704; walk up Daeseomun-gil about 900m.

The whole wall, all twelve gates, in one day. Uisang Ridge is the hard part and is too much for a first Korean mountain. Broad boulders every six or so peaks make natural rest stops.

6. Dobongsan–Sinseondae

Sunrise

Distance: 6.3 km
Time: 2 hr 25 min
Grade: average

Route: Dobong Visitor Center → Dobongseowon → Dobong Shelter → Madangbawi Rock → Sinseondae

Getting to the start: Subway line 1 to Dobongsan, exit 1, then about twenty minutes on foot.

Dobongsan is the park’s northern half. Jaunbong (740.2m) is its true high point but the rock cliffs up to it are closed, so Sinseondae is the summit in practice. The queue to scale Sinseondae runs to fifty metres on weekends and holidays — go on a weekday.

Distances, times and grades as published by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in its Seoul Hiking Tourism leaflet.

On the ridge

Bukhansanseong, the mountain fortress

1711: Completed
11.6 km: Wall length
16: Gates
13: Monk-soldier temples

Korea had been invaded twice within living memory — by Japan in the 1590s, then by the Manchus in 1636 — and both times the court had nowhere defensible to go. Plans for a fortress on Bukhansan were drawn up in 1659 and argued over for half a century before anything was built.

The wall that exists was finished in 1711, the thirty-seventh year of King Sukjong’s reign, and it went up in roughly six months. It runs 11.6 km around the ridgeline, using the mountain itself wherever the rock was already steep enough to do the job — which is why it wanders rather than encircles.

There are sixteen gates in it: six great gates, eight secret gates and two water gates, plus 143 seong-rang, the positions where soldiers were stationed along the wall. Thirteen Buddhist temples were founded inside it, garrisoned by monk-soldiers, whose job was to hold the fortress and keep it in repair. Six are still standing.

You do not have to go looking for any of this. The most popular route up the mountain runs straight through the fortress, past the gates and the temple sites, and the full circuit of the wall is a day’s walk in its own right.

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