I was standing nearly up to my knees in rapidly flowing water. Struggling for purchase on the stones underwater, I slipped and slid. The trees growing all around me also stood in the water. Was this the trail? Or had I veered into the stream? Now, it seemed like there was no difference between the two. Kent and I were descending from Daeamsan (대암산): a mountain in remote, northern Gangwondo – and it was at its wildest after the summer rains!
Daeamsan enchanted us so thoroughly that we actually visited this mountain twice – on two consecutive weekends! It was 2017, and we were exploring all around our new home in Inje, Gangwondo.
But a word of caution before I proceed with my tale: If a mountain does not have trails on Naver Maps, you might have some difficulty with it. Daeamsan’s trails are not visible on Naver, despite the fact that Naver typically shows even long-closed trails. Perhaps that should have been our first hint that exploring this mountain was ill-advised. Please let it be yours, and refer to the hike section below before you plan your Daeamsan excursion! (Alternatively, check out Solbong – a readily accessible subsidiary peak of the mountain!)
Run #1: The Canada Day Discovery Tour
In our grand tradition of doing special runs on special days, we did the first of our two Daeamsan runs on Canada Day in July 2017. This mountain had long fascinated us. It was in our county – and we were doing our level best to visit every mountain in our county. It was also remote: far from our town or any other. But it was not so remote that we couldn’t get there on foot!
Daeamsan is located in the northern part of our county, quite close to the border. But from our perspective, it was just one mountain range over from our home. We could get there via a pass that we had in fact already explored. That is, if Daeamsan was open.
We had some reasons to believe it might not be. There was no information to be found about it. Maps of the area did not show any trails. But, the allure of a new mountain couldn’t be ignored. No matter what, we were going to try to reach the summit.
So, on Canada Day, we woke up extra early and began our run in the dark. We ran up our favorite dirt road, the one nestled in the long valley that begins at the edge of our town. By the time dawn arrived, we had crossed Gwangchiryeong pass and were about to enter brand new territory.
There was a sign pointing the way to Daeamsan! We also spotted the gate we’d seen in the satellite images of the area (before they cut off due to the mountain’s proximity to the Demilitarized Zone) – but it was open! It looked like a green light to me, so we kept on running; our mysterious mountain revealing itself with each footstep.
We continued on up a dirt road, wet and slightly muddy from the previous night’s rains. Although it was now bright enough to look around without our headlamps, we could not see far. A thick, damp cloud hung low and heavy on the mountain. We couldn’t see beyond the nearest trees in the forest or the next bend in the road.
But the dark grey clouds had the effect of making the mountain slopes look extra verdant. Everything was green! There were fragrant bright green grasses growing next to the road and the trees of the forest came in a rainbow of deeper greens.
As it was still early, we also had some amazing animal encounters. Several dark red deer bounded away from our approach, up the steep mountain slopes. We used a stick to help a snake off to the side of the road – although it seemed unlikely that any cars would trouble him on that day or any other. I even caught sight of several stripey wild piglets running into the long grass skirting the road!
The observation tower we encountered next seemed like another clue in our mountain mystery. Why would they build a wooden tower all the way up on a remote road in northern Gangwondo if the peak wasn’t open? We climbed it – but the weather being what it was, saw nothing beyond its railings.
But, just a few hundred meters further on, a massive gate barred our way. With a fence stringing off in either direction and signs warning about mines to the right, it seemed like our journey was over. We’d run 15 kilometers to the pass, and a further 13 up this lonely road. Was this really it? I banged on the gate and hollered at the little guardhouse I could see beyond the gate. Nothing. Disappointment made a lump in my throat and tight fists of my hands. But I was not ready to give up on Daeamsan.
That gate was not letting us through, that was for sure. I scanned the trees, looking for signs of another way. And…there it was! An old hiking ribbon tied to a branch to the left of the road. I pointed it out to Kent, looked for more any warnings about mines. Seeing none, we plunged into the bushes towards the ribbon.
That lone ribbon seemed to indicate the presence of a trail, but it was not one we could easily find. In midsummer, the trees were so bushy and the grasses so grown that almost as soon as we stepped off the road, we could no longer see our feet, let alone any trail. Still, we pressed on, roughly parallel to the road, which we could mostly see. We stumbled over roots, and sharp thorns ripped our clothes and tore our skin.
Although we’d only been looking around for a few minutes, I started to feel nervous; like the forest was so dense and wild it could swallow us right up! Without any ribbons of our own, I took the wrapper from an energy bar and tied it around a branch. I tried to recognize and remember different rocks and interesting shapes in the trees.
The foliage only got denser and soon we were all but swimming in it. It felt incredibly naughty, but before we had time to debate turning back, we spied the little guardhouse through a break in the trees. We made straight for it!
We burst out into the clearing and shook the leaves out of our clothes and rubbed at our scratches. Inside, there were plentiful signs and the trail appeared well-groomed. We were mystified as to why the gate was locked, or even there in the first place. We refocused on our mission and hit the trail.
The trail was alongside a barbed wire fence with more warnings about mines. Feeling lucky to be on the correct side of it, we ran the two kilometers to the peak.
The peak was rocky, windy and wet. It was topped not by a rock stele, but by two small signs on white foam board. But we were delighted by all of it, and spent a merry little time celebrating this peak that we’d almost not seen.
Instead of battling our way back through the bushes, we elected to head down a different way. That way, we could explore a little more of the mountain. In terms of getting home again, well, in that regard we could just hope for the best!
As we ran down, much to our great surprise, we saw a handful of other hikers on their way up! So the summit was not forbidden after all! Perhaps we’d just been too early? That has happened to us before! The presence of others on the mountain helped us relax a little and simply enjoy the way down alongside a little stream.
Eventually the mountain path became a road, and the scenery changed from forest to farmland. Still, our adventure for the day were not over yet! We spotted signs for both the odd Baekdudaegan trail that is not in fact on the Baekdudaegan, and the bike trail that runs past our town and over Misiryeong. Better still, we found a bunch of bright green frogs in a little spring, and later on – a tiny princess of a dog in the little shop we eventually found that sold bus tickets.
Run #2: Daring to Daeamsan again
We liked Daeamsan so much that we were back the very next weekend. That long uphill was such good training, how could we resist? Plus, it was a great, close-to-home adventure, and perhaps we’d have another shot at seeing some scenery from the peak!
Alas, we did not have the fine weather we’d hoped for. In fact, one severely stormy week separated our two Daeamsan adventures. So once again, we set off into a cloudy, humid night for another Daeamsan experience.
This time, we had something specific in mind. We’d read about the special wetland on top of the mountain and had seen signs pointing to it, but we’d been too nervous to explore too much. Now, thinking the mountain was open, we planned to spend more time up top, checking out the very special Yongneup swamp!
The conditions on top of the mountain were almost identical to our previous visit. We ran up the muddy road alone, and arrived on the mist-shrouded summit area after pushing through the bushes beside the locked gate once again. Instead of heading straight to the peak, we headed off along a boardwalk into the swamp.
The mist hung heavy overhead, limiting our views a little – but lending the place a moody, mysterious atmosphere. We slowed to a walk to take it all in, hoping to spot some swamp creatures. Alas, all was quiet on the fauna front – but we did see some pretty flowers!
As we climbed up to an observation platform, it seemed like no one had been here for a while. Perhaps a long while. Plants grew up through the cracks in the wood, and thick spiderwebs spanned the steps at regular intervals. Swatting our way gently through this, we completed our loop and returned back to the place where we started.
Once again, we delayed our visit to the peak by turning north and following a little paved road. Tall buildings and high wire fences suddenly rose up out of the mist, startling us both. We were standing in front of a military guard booth before we knew what was happening. Afraid to turn back without causing an incident, we froze.
The guard, a young guy, looked us up and down as he emerged from the booth with his rifle. We asked him if he could speak English, and if we could descend on the road ahead. He called for his supervisor, and we stood there sheepishly in the cold, swirling mist. The supervisor asked us if we had any permits. When we replied that we did not, he shook his head and advised us to return to where we had come from. We thanked him, turned tail, and ran out of view as fast as we could!
This confirmed our original suspicions. There was something up with this mountain. We weren’t simply just the early birds or entering from the wrong side. Our mountain was indeed mysterious, and perhaps even off-limits!
Still, we did not go back the way we came. We know knew the way down on the opposite side and had found a reliable bus to take us home. So off we went towards Seohwamyeon, dropping by the peak of course!
But the way down this time was not exactly how we’d left it. There were no other hikers whatsoever. And after we descended about a few hundred meters from the peak, we wandered straight into the stream. It had burst its banks and was now a torrent streaming in a wide swath through the forest. I wasn’t so familiar with the trail that I didn’t have doubts going down. We were certainly descending, along with so many liters of water, but were we descending on the trail?
We kept stopping to study the terrain that was now both underfoot and underwater, but eventually we made it down safely to the road. At the little information booth where there’d been a few hikers gathered on our last visit, now there were just two extremely surprised guards. Suddenly unsure of ourselves all over again, we ran away before they could question us. When they began shouting, we ran a little faster.
We crested the little hill that links the forest to the farm roads, and were shocked at what we saw! What was once a normal, drive-able gravel road was absolutely destroyed. There were boulders and branches everywhere, and huge cracks split the soil. The flood had ruined this road. It got worse and worse as we went on: it had even taken out some of the low, concrete bridges. We had to pick our way down carefully, watching our footing for each step.
Finally, we made to the recreation forest, which was empty of people but seemed mostly unscathed. We looked for the little frogs in the spring again, before running into town to catch our local bus home.
Know and Go! Daeamsan
Transportation
For us, the trail to Daeamsan began literally at our doorstep. For you, though, getting there will be significantly more tricky. To get started, you should make your way to Seohwamyeon. For reasons I will explain in the next section, this is the best place to both start and end your hike. There are a couple of different ways of doing this, but probably the best way is to head to Inje or Wontong first (catch a bus from Dong Seoul terminal). There, you can transfer to a local bus to get to Seohwa. Buses there and back are both regular and easy to access.
But I should tell you that the trail-head is actually quite far from Seohwa. So your best bet is to transfer into a taxi in Seohwa to get to the trailhead – or to join a tour (more on that in the next section).
Hike & Run
The first thing I should probably mention is that I’m still unclear on whether or not this mountain is open to the public. I tracked down a few Korean language blogs about hiking Daeamsan – but they all date from before our adventures. I’ve also sent queries to a few of our mountain friends and contacted a couple of experts, but have yet to receive the final word.
So what follows is just what I know: both from personal experience and research on some Korean hiking websites.
The road beginning at the Gwangchiryeong tunnel north of Wontong offers the most direct access to Daeamsan. According to this blog, one can drive up from this side, park at the gate, and if it is open, hike around the swamp and to the peak. But I really, really hesitate to advise you do to this, because in all likelihood this gate will be shut.
Hence the transportation suggestions for getting to Seohwamyeon above. Still, I don’t know whether you’re actually permitted to hike this independently. This blog, from the same time period as the one above, describes hiking Daeamsan as part of a tour, starting from the information booth on the Seohwa side. A mountain guide is clearly present on the tour, and all of the hikers seem to have been assigned numbered nametags.
One thing I would not recommend you to do is what we did. Not only is the legality of our route questionable, it’s also potentially unsafe. There are active land mines on the mountain, the wetland on top is a protected environment and the trails are not always clearly marked.
If you’re interested in hiking Daeamsan, I’d encourage you to ask a Korean friend for help doing more research about this mountain, or booking a tour starting from Seohwamyeon. I wish I could provide more help in this regard, but I couldn’t find an English-language site with a definitive answer on the mountain’s openness – nor could I find an English tour! I will write an update if any more information becomes available.
Finally, if you want to visit part of Daeamsan worry-free, consider hiking Solbong! It’s part of Daeamsan, and a great hike. You can read more about it here.
Stay & Eat
Again, since the mountain is only questionably open for hiking, I’ll keep this brief.
There are motels and some small restaurants in Seohwamyeon. Thanks to the local bus schedule, this little town doesn’t feel all that remote. However, nearby Wontong and Inje are bigger, with perhaps better options. If you have your own wheels and want to do a little picnicking/camping, there’s a lovely area to do that in the valley to the west of Seohwamyeon, below the trailhead.
Alternatively, incorporate your Daeamsan trek into a trip to Haean – ‘the punchbowl’. This area was the site of many battles in the Korean War. As such there is a war memorial and an observatory where one can look into North Korea. A tunnel dug by North Korean forces below the DMZ can also be found here. It’s an alternative place to do a DMZ tour and learn a little more about Korean history. My personal favorite attraction in the area is the Korean Goral Restoration Center, where you can see some of Korea’s endangered indigenous deer up close. Head here for some general information on your options.
Other Notes
Daeamsan is on the Korea Forest Service 100 noted mountains list, available here.
Kent and I explored Daeamsan in July 2017. We did two marathon-length runs starting in Inje and ending in Seohwamyeon.
Daeamsan is a rocky peak standing at 1,304 meters tall.
A hike on Daeamsan will require further research. To experience another peak of this mountain that is definitely open, check out Solbong! If you’re so inclined, consider biking around the mountain to explore more of the historical countryside.
As always, if you’re interested in more mountains, head back to the 120 summits main page!