April in South Korea. Spring brings hazy conditions – but also beautiful blooms. This season is a colorful affair, with bright blossoms adorning mountains long before the first green foliage appears. It’s a wonderful time of year to be running or hiking in the hills. For us, it was the perfect time to visit Baekdeoksan (백덕산)!
Baekdeoksan was meant to be our second mountain of the day. First, we visited Gariwangsan and had to DNS. Our gamble that the mountain wouldn’t be hard closed like a national park turned out to be very wrong indeed. With police tape blocking the entrance and covers on all the maps and signs, Gariwangsan was very much off-limits for the season. (Don’t worry, we didn’t give up – we just postponed that particular adventure until July).
And that’s how we wound up driving another hour on to Baekdeoksan first thing on this April morning in 2018! For this mountain, the best point of access seemed to be a parking lot on an 800m highway pass. A little unorthodox, to be sure, but sometimes the best days start in funny ways!
We got started at first light, around 5:30 am. This Baekdeoksan trail was composed of rolling earth on an absolutely lovely long ridge. Baby fern fronds exploded up through the soft dirt to either side of the trail.
The first light of day was golden and warm, coupled with a cool breeze blowing up from shady, wild and untouched valleys. The trail was well-groomed and runnable, so we made good time.
Despite the remote starting point, there were numerous trail markers. One was topped by a random safety helmet, for no apparent reason other than our enjoyment, it seemed.
The trail itself was a highlight, but there were several highlight-worthy stops along the way too. First up, a subsidiary peak. Next, a helipad!
It was 5 kilometers of undulating ridge before we reached the peak of Baekdeoksan! There were lovely purple flowers blooming there, and the stele was a thin 4-sided pillar with the mountain’s name inscribed on each side. We could long ridges tapering away to all sides of the mountaintop. Baekdeoksan seemed to be centered in a sea of high mountains and remote valleys.
Alas, we didn’t linger. Although the summit itself was great, the air quality was not. We turned around, and ran back down on the ridge that we’d enjoyed so much running up. All morning was spent in complete enjoyment of Baekdeoksan’s natural beauty: a very happy run as well as a successful new mountain mission!
KNOW AND GO! BAEKDEOKSAN
TRANSPORTATION
Baekdeoksan stands tall in southwestern Gangwondo. In fact, Chiaksan National Park is its next-door neighbor! (Possible combo idea for your trip?) This means its also not so far from Wonju. It’s also not too far from Pyeongchang in the opposite direction.
Alas, its proximity to civilization doesn’t mean Baekdeoksan is easy to get to. I don’t know of any buses that stop at Munjae, the 800 meter pass. Of course, it’s entirely possible that one exists and I don’t know about it. It’s also possible that you could ask a bus driver plying that highway to stop there for you – if you’ve got a way with people and the Korean language.
For us, like many of the mountains on this mountain mission, it seemed like we would need a car to be able to access this one. So that’s what we did. Yes, this solution somewhat limits how much exploring one can do. However, we particularly liked our trail, and so didn’t feel limited at all.
HIKE & RUN
It seems like there are three main trails up Baekdeoksan – and all of them start in pretty remote locations! We actually started from the highest trailhead, but I stand by our unusual choice. First of all, the parking lot was obvious in satellite photos, so it seemed like a sure bet as a starting point. And the entire trail from there is on a nice ridge, passing over a bonus bong and a helgijang: a highly recommendable route. That said, I’d be curious about the other two trails as well!
STAY & EAT
…we didn’t. There’s obviously no options at the pass, though there is a nice little covered picnic spot and a bathroom.
On the drive over from the east, we did pass several roads leading to villages and camps, so no doubt there are options in the area. But hiking Baekdeoksan won’t take you all day, so you could simply make this a day trip.
OTHER NOTES
Baekdeoksan can be found on both mountain lists. It’s on the Korea Forest Service 100 noted mountains list, available here, and the Black Yak 100 mountains list, online here.
This was a 13 kilometer out-and-back run to Baekdeoksan’s 1350m summit in April 2018.
Done for the day after 13k? Hardly. Next up, Taehwasan!
As always, if you’re interested in more mountains, head back to the 120 summits main page.