Gyeongju (경주)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll type it again: there’s nowhere like Gyeongju (경주). This city is my favorite in all of Korea.

Kent and I aren’t really city folk. Most of our best memories are made on mountains. So Gyeongju really is unique among our favorite places – and among Korea’s national parks! This is the only park that includes both mountains and an urban area. And, surprisingly, I like the urban area just as much as the mountains. That’s because Gyeongju is flat-out fun.

A nighttime image in Gyeongju's Tumulus Park. A bright light on the left illuminates two gently sloping linked burial mounds. The light appears yellow and green on the mounds, and orange on the flat grass. There is a lone tree in front of the nearest mound. The night sky appears blue rather than black due to unseen city lights.

An image featuring plum blossoms blooming. Beyond the blooms near the camera lens, two large, linked burial mounds are visible, covered in yellow and green grass.

A whirlwind trip during my first year in Korea introduced me to Gyeongju National Park (경주국립공원). My friend Gordon and I had signed up for a temple stay at Golgulsa temple in November 2011. It was an incredible experience: we practiced meditation with monks, and I had my first taste of the mountain vegetable cuisine I would come to adore. But sequestered away in the mountains, I saw very little of Gyeongju on that trip.

I visited the city proper on a weekend trip in 2013. A steady spring rain kept most of the other tourists tucked up in cafes, so we had the run of the town. Kent, our friend Alicia and I walked on the wet grass between tombs and climbed up a mountain slope decorated with carvings and relics. Rain and pink petals fell on us in equal measure as we skipped around town under our umbrellas. Gyeongju National Park was stamped onto my memory forever.

An image of the sidewalk in Gyeongju on a rainy spring day. There is a grey wall, topped with black tiles, to the right. Dark green pine trees rise above the wall. To the left, black tree trunks contrast with light pink cherry blossom flowers. The sidewalk is lined by the pink petals, and they ring little puddles. There are no people or cars in sight, and the mood is pensive. — A Gyeongju sidewalk, canopied and carpeted by flowers

An image taken in front of a pond. A large tumulus with two humps is reflected again in the water. The tumulus is covered with brown grass, and some contrasting bright green grass sprouts from the pond. — Tumulus Park

An image of the author in the woods below Namsan mountain. She is grouched low on a boulder in the middle of a clear stream that leads up through the center of the frame. She is adding a stone to the top of a tiny stone cairn. The image is slightly blurry from the rain. — Sculpting with stone

That visit put Gyeongju National Park on the top of the list I was curating for visitors. In 2014, my sister and Kent’s parents visited us in Korea – and we took them all to Gyeongju. In between, we also visited Gyeongju on our own, to climb Namsan (남산) mountain and run a fall-themed half-marathon. Each trip was memorable. Every time we visited, we found ourselves drawn to different areas, exploring more and discovering more.

An image of Cheomseongdae, an ancient astrological observatory from the Silla dynasty in Korea. The image was taken at night, so the sky and ground are completely black. The observatory is lit with bright yellow lights that fade to orange near the top of the structure. There are a few city lights visible in the background. — Astrological observatory seen under the stars

An image of an ancient stone pagoda on a rocky cliff. The pagoda overlooks the sloping green pine forests of Namsan mountain, and some flat farmland is visible in a valley below. — View from Namsan

In 2016, our mountain mission year, we returned to Gyeongju twice. In April, we ran the pretty Cherry Blossom half-marathon, and invited two of our favorite friends to join us there afterwards. We got to play tour guides again: showing Jack and Caleigh around the temples and picnicking in the parks. But our busy racing and surprisingly social schedule didn’t leave us time to check out any of the peaks, so we didn’t count this visit on our national park list.

An image of the author, taken during the Gyeongju Cherry Blossom Half Marathon. She is mid-stride, running down the middle of a road while looking back at the camera and giving a thumbs up. Another runner is beside her to the left, and the brightly colored clothes of other runners are visible further down the road. Cherry blossom trees bloom dark pink against dark brown tree trunks along the left side of the road. — Cherry Blossom Half Marathon fun

In October, we planned to scale some summits after running that same fall-themed half-marathon we’d loved two years ago. We loved it again in 2016, despite the fact that it was pouring rain. In fact, it was raining so hard by the time we finished, that instead of staying at the finish line to stretch, we took shelter in a Starbucks. We tried to wait it out, but now cold, wet and stinky, lacking a change of clothes and perhaps sufficient grit, we decided to call it. Gyeongju National Park is a historical park, after all, and we figured that with all of our many visits, we could claim it for our list anyways.

An image of the author and her husband, both with wet hair and clothes, sitting inside a Starbucks. They have just finished a rainy half-marathon, and giving up hope that the rain will let up enough for them to go hiking (and dry off!). The author holds up a Gyeongju National Park map, as well as making the number 20 with her fingers. They are smiling a little wryly. — National Park number 20…inside a Starbucks!

In 2017, we’d return to finally climb Tohamsan (토함산), the highest peak in the park. We spent a lovely morning on the mountain, combining a run with a return to UNESCO’s Bulguksa temple and Seokguram grotto. Four years after our first visit, there were still discoveries to be made in Gyeongju National Park!

An image of the author and her husband with the massive summit stele at Tohamsan peak. The author's husband holds the camera in the foreground. The author is in the background, standing alongside the stele with one hand gently resting on it. The stele is engraved with large black Korean characters. It is a bright sunny day, and there are lots of green trees behind the stele. — At Tohamsan’s peak

Our love affair with Gyeongju did not end there. Last year, we had our hands full with our 120 mountain mission. Gyeongju’s Namsan mountain was on our list. Kent argued that we could have simply checked it off, having been in both 2013 and 2014. But I badly wanted to go back, and so we did: sneaking in a training run on Namsan while we were in the area.

Know and Go! Gyeongju

Transportation

Gyeongju city – part of Gyeongju National Park – is really easy to get to. It’s served by express trains and slower trains, and is also well-connected by bus. Coming from Seoul, the fastest way to get to Gyeongju is via the KTX train. This train station is a ten-minute taxi or bus ride away from the city. Slow trains stop right in the city center. There are two bus stations in the north end of the city as well, where you can connect onto local buses to see the sights.

Hike & Run

The city center of Gyeongju is a walking history tour. There are tombs and temples set among tall pines and flowering deciduous trees. You can visit the scenic Anapji Pond or the ancient astrological observatory Cheomseongdae. Depending on the time of year, you can see snow dusting the sloping rooftops of traditional Hanok homes, cherry blossom trees in full bloom, lotus flowers dotting still ponds, or colorful leaves on the mountain slopes. You could easily spend a few days just wandering from one sight to the next in the city center.

If you march to a faster beat, you can cover a lot of ground in a day trip. Several sights are clustered together downtown – and others can be accessed using pleasant riverside paths. Explore on your own, or time your visit for one of two great international marathons every year – one in spring and one in fall. Both courses offer plenty of sightseeing along the way.

Traditional hiking also abounds in Gyeongju National Park. Continue your history lesson on Namsan mountain, just south of the city. Numerous trails to the top lead past ancient rock carvings, remote hermitages, tombs and sculptures.

Or head southeast to the Tohamsan area. Here you’ll find a wealth of history alongside lovely forest hiking. On your way up to the highest peak in this national park, you can visit UNESCO treasures Bulguksa temple and Seokguram grotto.

Stay & Eat

This is one national park where you will have no problem finding a host of accommodation options. Gyeongju has everything from cheap motels to fancy resorts, and all the hostels and home-stays in between. Similarly, finding just what you want to eat should also be as simple as looking for it. Gyeongju’s city center has everything from international fast food chains to simple mountain vegetable places. It’s a big town that sees lots of tourism, so it has a growing range of options.

Other Notes

I have visited Gyeongju multiple times over the years. My first visit was in November 2011, and our most recent trip was in November 2018.

The highest peak in the park is 745m Tohamsan, southeast of the city. The highest peak of the popular Namsan area is 494m. But don’t neglect the great walking in Gyeongju city below!

The information on the Korea National Park Service website is slightly more helpful for planning your overall trip rather than individual hikes.

Head back to the Gyeongju National Park main page for more great outings in the area.