Hwangaksan (황악산)

A lot of our mountain escapades take place at sunrise. But for this mountain, we mixed things up. For Hwangaksan (황악산), we had a sunset on the summit!

In this vertical image, the author is holding up four fingers to match the four ones of Hwangaksan's height! She's seated at the base of the massive summit stele for the mountain, smiling downwards and wearing a pink sweater.

Accommodating Kali the kitten necessitated making some unusual scheduling decisions. We didn’t pick up our rental car until noon – and then we still had to drive three and a half hours south! But we were bound – and determined – to reach Hwangaksan.

This image depicts the dramatic entrance gate to Jikjisa temple, the Buddhist complex below Hwangaksan.

Starting in the evening for a mountain mission is unusual (especially when you want to photograph the top in daylight!) – but it’s not that unusual for training (especially when you’re training for a night-start race!). We pulled up to Jikjisa amidst a huge crowd of pilgrims and tourists late in the afternoon, but somehow managed to find a place to park right near the temple gate. We bought our entrance tickets – and were off to Hwangaksan!

The first stretch of our run was on pavement, as Jikjisa’s huge temple complex has several hermitages in the hills above. This road should have made running easy and fast – but I was having a hell of a time! Both my legs and lungs were absolutely burning! I couldn’t figure it out and felt frustrated by my body’s failure to follow my commands.

A vertical rendering of a late fall forest and a thin dirt trail running through it. The peak of Hwangaksan is visible through the branches of trees, and the majority of the foliage is scattered across the path. — Speeding up the seasons on the ascent

I was really riding the struggle bus up Hwangaksan, to be honest. But I realized that this was a perfect opportunity for training my mental game. And I knew that eventually, something would have to change. And finally, it did. It was not until we were nearly on top, but eventually I felt properly warmed up and more like myself in body and mind.

An artistic capture of the silvery heads of some tall grasses, backed by the barren branches of trees. Through the branches we can see a clear blue sky, and the moon rising.

In a field of long, silvery grass, I forgot about my struggles and started to play. We got up to the summit of Hwangaksan in the last golden rays of the day. Another couple was camping on the helipad next to the summit, but we had the stele all to ourselves. I was pretty excited about Hwangaksan’s extra fun elevation, and it was truly lovely in the last light of the day.

In this photograph, the author has two hands placed on the large summit stele at the peak of Hwangaksan. She's looking away, and the whole scene is bathed in warm orange light.

We stayed for a bit in that warm golden glow, and decided to carry on and visit other nearby peaks on the Baedudaegan ridge. The ridge was exciting and steep – but not too technical, so we were able to really run for most of it. After catching sunset from the ridge, we ventured just a couple of extra kilometers in the post-sunset twilight before descending.

A landscape photograph, taken from Hwangaksan's long ridge. In this photograph, the sun is veiled by some thin, wispy clouds, and is about to drop below the mountain horizon. It's an image of contrasts: all warm and bright above, and all in shadow below. — A summit sunset

The descent we chose from the heights of Hwangaksan was steep, and it got dark fast in the forest! We put our headlamps on in the last of the light, so we were prepared. We startled a deer and heard a loud cry in the dark – something like an eagle would make, maybe.

A rare author selfie, with her husband in the background. The pair stopped at a small clearing in the forest with a bench to don their headlamps, which they're wearing in this photograph. — Safety selfie

The ending of our trail was mostly stairs – which required all of our focus and so seemed to take a long time. But it was not cold – we were both warm and comfortable. And the temple bell was ringing below, beckoning us home. When we arrived back at the car, we didn’t have to rush anywhere for the first time that day, so we took the time to stretch.

Then we treated ourselves to a Hwangaksan bibimbap feast at a quiet restaurant overlooking the little temple town. We got gas and snacks and spent the rest of the evening poring over maps for the rest of the weekend’s adventures!

KNOW AND GO! HWANGAKSAN

TRANSPORTATION

Hwangaksan is located in North Gyeongsang province, just west of Gimcheon city. This is a well-connected area of the country, so you’ve got options when it comes to getting to Gimcheon! The city is served by high speed rail and slower trains, as well as buses. So this mountain should pose relatively little difficulty to reach.

Which is not to say it will be quick. Gimcheon’s location near the middle of South Korea means it’s a bit of a journey from both Seoul and Busan. But Gimcheon is close to Daegu and decently close to Daejeon, if you live in either of those cities!

To hike Hwangaksan, most people start from the Jikjisa temple area. There are several trails beginning in this area, and it’s pretty well-served by public transportation. Here are some options from Gimcheon:

The KTX station is actually on the opposite side of town from Hwangaksan, so the will still be a fair distance away when you arrive. Luckily, there is a direct bus: hop on the 111-0 for about 80 minutes to reach trailheads. However, if taking the slow train, I do not advise getting out at Jikjisa station – public transportation is so bonky and indirect from there, it would be faster to walk to the mountain (and along the highway, so again, not really recommended)! From Gimcheon’s bus terminal, an hour-long journey on the Gimcheon 11-8 bus will also take you to the trailheads.

You may notice a number of other trailheads at various places around the mountain. I’ve left those out here because they’re fairly remote from civilization. If you’re researching them, you probably already have your own wheels and a solid action plan.

HIKE & RUN

Hwangaksan is another Baekdudaegan mountain! This mountain owes it’s great height to it’s membership in that mighty club of spinal mountains, and it’s located roughly in the middle of Korea’s backbone. Therefore, truly epic stuff is possible in either direction – or both!

A great trail map is depicted in this photo. The temple complex is labelled, as are all of its associated hermitages. The trails up Hwangaksan are depicted in yellow, and the Baekdudaegan trail along the ridge is shown in green. Peaks are also indicated with a little summit cartoon! — Hwangaksan trail maps – one of my faves for clarity!

However, if you’re on a 100 summits mountain mission, you’ll probably be starting from Jikjisa and taking one of the shorter routes up. Even if you’re shy on time, I’d highly recommend at least completing the main loop here to experience multiple trails. Why not take a peek at a couple of bonus peaks while you’re in the area?

STAY & EAT

The obvious option here is Gimcheon, since you’ll likely be in transit through the city. There are plenty of motels, restaurants, cafes and supermarkets – much like any other Korean city. Stop and refresh before or after your Hwangaksan climb!

However, if you want to stay mountainside, you certainly can! Although there’s no camping in the immediate surroundings, there’s a motel and a few pensions near the trailheads at Jikjisa temple. There are also a number of restaurants and a couple of cafes as well so you can fuel up!

As for us, we did stay at the foot of the mountain! We had fresh mountain bibimbap – my fave! post Hwangaksan – and hit the convenience store for extra snacks before settling in to our little room at the foot of the mountain.

OTHER NOTES

Amazingly, Hwangaksan is precisely 1111 meters tall. It’s worth a visit for that fun fact alone! This is also a Baekdudaegan mountain, so it is suitably high and dramatic. Hwangaksan is included on both of Korea’s 100 famous summits lists. Find it on the Korea Forest Service list here and the Black Yak list here!

Kent and I ran an (almost perfect!) 11.8 kilometers loop on Hwangaksan in October 2018.

Get your mountain fix on the 120 summits main page!

A happy selfie of the author and her husband with the Hwangaksan summit stele at sunset. Only the top half of the summit stele is visible, with Carrie leaning over it. The sky beyond is streaked with the pastels of sunset, and the moon has risen over the distant hills. — Happy on Hwangaksan

And have a blast on Hwangaksan!