Two days in Seoraksan National Park
Ben Lerwill is an award-winning freelance travel writer who travelled with us to South Korea, writing for National Geographic Traveller. He shares his experience in Seoraksan National Park - one of the largest in South Korea. Seoul-based photographer, Chris Da Canha, travelled with Ben to capture the piece.
Written by Ben Lerwill.
The Buddhist monk strolling our way is wearing loose grey robes, fur-lined boots and a benign smile. His head is closely shaved and he clutches a smartphone. Photographer Chris Da Canha and I have just made a 90-minute descent on foot from the Towangseong Falls – one of the many scenic highlights in Seoraksan National Park – and as we wander back among the pines and oaks of the valley floor, we pause to greet our fellow walker.
Eyes twinkling, the monk tells us he’s been living in the park’s Sinheungsa Temple for more than two decades. “I was 30 years old when I arrived here,” he says. We’re surrounded by wooded peaks and fluting birdsong, and I suggest to him that it must be a joyous place to call home. “Yes,” he answers, looking up at the slopes.
“But life for a monk isn’t so different, you know. Sometimes happy, sometimes sad. Like it is for everyone.”
He then fixes me with a kind stare and tilts his head, as if searching for some deeper truth. A few seconds pass. “Hmm,” he says softly, as I wait for the profound judgment that must surely be coming. “You look like Harry Kane.”
Chris and I are learning that Seoraksan National Park holds surprises, whether that's in the form of unexpected celebrity references (for the record, I’m bald – and old enough to be Harry Kane’s dad) or in the amount that the park fits into its mountainous borders. Measuring some 398 square kilometres and packed with craggy rock formations, dense forests and age-old shrines, it was awarded national park status back in the 1970s and remains one of the country’s go-to corners for Korean hikers.
This is helped by its proximity to Seoul. The park is only around two hours’ drive from the capital, occupying a particularly scenic swathe of land close to both the North Korean border and the coastline of the East Sea (the name ‘the Sea of Japan’ never gets used here). The likeable port town of Sokcho, which has a predictably strong range of tourist hotels and seafood restaurants, is more or less on Seoraksan’s doorstep.
Even the drive here from Seoul is an experience, at one point passing through the 11-kilometre Inje Yangyang Tunnel, the highlight of which – for me – is the ridged section of ‘musical road’ that rumbles out the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as cars pass over its surface. You don’t get that on the M25.
But the truest delights, of course, lie within the park itself. On our visit, during the sun-warmed days of mid-May, we find swifts wheeling overhead, swallowtail butterflies floating across the footpaths and mountain streams flowing fast and clear. Towering up to the skies in all directions, meanwhile, are granite and quartz peaks cloaked in greenery. Factor in the park’s shrines and temples – where incense swirls in the heat and mantras echo from the prayer halls – and it makes for a memorable experience.
There are various entry points into Seoraksan, but the main visitor entrance is in the northeast, close to Sokcho. Here, a giant seated Buddha welcomes arrivals, bibimbap restaurants fuel up hungry hikers and a web of walking trails leads out into the hills.
Walking guide Kwak Yong-duk, who calls himself YD, accompanies us on our first day here. He turns out to be fine company, his conversation eddying across subjects from religion to national service and his backpack holding some unexpected edible delights. “Try these,” he says enthusiastically, opening up food pouches when we take a break from the trekking. “Sweet potatoes and chestnuts.”
YD leads us initially on one of the park’s most iconic walks, a morning climb up to the multi-headed, 873m-high summit of Ulsanbawi. The views from the top, spilling out across the coast and the rest of the park, are glorious. In the afternoon, meanwhile, he takes us on the hugely popular cable-car ride up to Gwongeumseong Fortress, from where a fantasy of plunging ridges and rumpled woodlands stretches into the distance.
Back on the valley floor, we visit the park’s largest temple, Sinheungsa, which as well as being home to our football-loving monastic friend also dates back to the 7th century. On our visit, its courtyards are festooned with rainbow-hued lanterns, in preparation for Buddha’s birthday, and the holy name of Amitabha is being chanted in the main worship hall. It’s an absorbing place to wander and linger.
Seoraksan is a large park, and we see just the fringes of it on our time in the region. When we return the following day we make the sensationally lovely ascent up to the Towangseong Falls – largely on fixed stairways above a frothing river – and culminate with a thigh-burning (but highly recommended) yomp up to the Geumganggul Cave, both of which are incredible experiences but neither of which take us especially far into the park.
By delving deeper into the park’s hill-clustered heart, serious hikers can tackle any number of more taxing undertakings, including the much-lauded Dinosaur Ridge crossing, the long climb up to Daecheongbong Peak’s 1,708-metre apex, and the multi-day walks that include stays in Suryeomdong Mountain Shelter. For myself and Chris, however, our two-day introduction to Seoraksan – waterfalls, monks, bibimbap and all – proves a heady way to understand what the fuss is about.
Image credit: Chris Da Canha
Any cultural adventure to South Korea can include a trip to Seoraksan National Park. Speak to your travel consultant to arrange.
