Korean Job Discussion Forums

[RufusW]

Hey,

I'm not leaving the country for my holidays so I thought I'd buy a Homeplus tent, Homeplus stove and hike somewhere for about 10 days, hopefully covering about 100 miles.

I'm in Busan and would love to just walk out of the city. Maybe I'll follow the Eastern coast (Southern coast looks a bit messy).

But are there are parks/trails I should definitely include, even if it meant getting a bus there? Are there any long trails in Korea? I presume much of the countryside is very similar, but has anyone got a favorite hiking spot?

Any help much appreciated!

[Kurtz]

I think it's possible to walk just about all through Korea from south to north. From memory it was on the Korea On The Rocks website. Search under the hiking thread.

There's a 4 day walk from end to end in Jirisan. I've done parts of it but not in one go. I think it might be possible to camp near the huts but don't get caught doing anything illegal, or you'll get fined.

Hiking in summer is tough going.

[bedhead]

www.baekdudaegan.blogspot.com

these guys did a thru-hike of korea. check it out!

[kimchikowboy]

This is for climbing, but may help.

http://www.koreaontherocks.com/forums/index.php

[chris_J2]

Jirisan, Halasan (Jejudo) or Soraksan?

[b-class rambler]

There are various cross-Jirisan routes which can take you up to 3-4 days. If you're doing that, you have to book a spot at one of the mountain shelters. You can do that online or by phone from 15 days before the day you want to stay. Camping isn't allowed in National Parks unless it's at a designated camp site, of which there are quite a few.

To be honest though, I'm not sure I'd recommend one of the Jirisan mammoth hikes. It's pretty demanding hiking for not such a lot in return IMO. I don't think Jirisan is anyway near as good as some other Korean national parks and mountains in terms of stuff to see, fabulous views n all that. Also, bear in mind the shelters don't have showers. It just a place to sleep and that's about all.

OP, I think you may be right in thinking of heading up the east coast rather than the south.

Below is the Korea National Parks website which is a good starting point for deciding where to go. All the National PArks I've been to were by car, but I've noticed that there always seems to be a bus terminal with plenty of connections to major cities.

http://english.knps.or.kr/

This blog also has lots of good advice & info for English speakers.

http://koreaclimbs.blogspot.com/2007/10/welcome-to-korea-in-clouds.html

[Kurtz]

I've hiked most of the famous mountains in Korea. I'll agree that they don't seem to differ very much. They have similar geology, forest cover and views. Summer will be very hazy and hot. Doing a long distance hike would be the last thing on my mind in that season.

Autumn is much more spectacula rtime to go hiking in Korea. If I still had my good tent I'd think about the long hike in Hokkaido in Japan.

[b-class rambler]

It's all in Korean, but this book is pretty handy. It's a collection of hiking maps for 600 mountains in Korea, across the whole country.

http://www.kyobobook.co.kr/product/detailViewKor.laf?ejkGb=KOR&mallGb=KOR&barcode=9788939002272&orderClick=LAG

The maps are good, with hiking trails, times & distances clearly shown, and I'd recommend this even if you can't read any Korean. It would obviously help if you can at least figure out the hangeul for the actual mountain names so that you know which map you should be looking at.

[RufusW]

Great information guys!

It may be I'll stay away from National parks (crowds, having to plan ahead etc) and just follow the coast. I suppose there isn't anything like a coast path like they have in England?

And yea, it's going to be hot, maybe I'll delay it 'til autumn... but if I do follow the coast I'll just slow down and hit a beach every afternoon...

Thanks to the link to the book, but are there any detailed maps simply of Korea (like Ordinance Survey in the UK), either in English or Korean? I'll start my bookshop search now....

[b-class rambler]

Rufus, there is stuff similar to OS in Britain, with contours on it and all that. The publisher that does the book I linked above has lots of other maps too, local and national. Just browse through any decent bookstore and they'll have plenty.

I usually get stuff like that off the internet these days, however. Both naver and daum have good maps of anywhere in the country that you can zoom into & out of and print off. Naver tends to be more up-to-date, but daum also has (at maximum zoom only) bus stops and buses that stop there with links to bus schedules. With daum you can also switch between map and skyview (like google earth).

http://map.naver.com/

http://local.daum.net/map/index.jsp

Below is a link to a blog which has compiled links to maps of mountains around Korea.

http://blog.daum.net/se07lim/8556186