I am completely in love with this lovely, lush mountain and its long trails; more and more every time we visit! This particular visit, taking place on a special day, was not the first time we’d explored Jirisan National Park (지리산국립공원). We’d been twice before, as part of our big 3 mountain mission in 2014. But there was so much more to explore: we’d heard that the 7 km hike up to the ridge from Hwaeomsa was hard, so the choice was obvious! We also wanted to see some of our favorite spots, like beautiful Banyabong (반야봉).
As many of the best adventures do, this trek began in the dark. Sometimes, nights just don’t cool down in the sweltering summers of the south. This was one of those hot and humid nights, so we set off with extra water. As the sky brightened to blue and the risk of getting caught up in spiderwebs decreased, we increased our pace. We wanted to test ourselves and charge up this challenging hill. Success was reaching the top of the ridge in just over two hours instead of the predicted four!
Once on the ridge, it was a short jaunt over to Nogodan, one of the main peaks of Jirisan. Coming from the west side of the mountain, it is the first of 13 peaks along the Jirisan ridgeline traverse. Nogodan’s rock sculpture has a shamanist history and from the top, there are great views over a carpet of green forest underlying a blanket of clouds. The sun rising higher and higher illuminated a brilliant morning of blue skies, clean air and soft white clouds. Not in a hurry on this particular adventure, we lingered in a mood of gratitude.
Leaving Nogodan’s vistas behind with some difficulty, we progressed along what is one of my favorite trails on the whole peninsula. The ridgetop trail curves and twists its way through forests and over peaks; sometimes in the open with sweeping vistas, sometimes nestled deep in a forest filled with multitudes of different trees and flowers. On this midsummer day, all of the plants seemed to be in full-flower and reaching their maximum growth potentials. It was thick and bushy and a little scratchy!
Our second peak – our highlight and high point of the day – was Banyabong, a beautiful summit slightly off to the north of the main ridge. Like Nogodan, it has great, open views across the vastness of the park. Unlike Nogodan, it’s never busy or crowded, thanks to its more remote location! We spent a significant amount of time relaxing here, toasting in the sun and breathing in the vistas.
Nearby, we also paid a visit to Samdobong. Samdobong is another interesting peak because it forms the boundary between 3 provinces. In fact, that’s what its name means: ‘sam’ being Korean for three, and ‘do’ referring in this case to provinces. Again, we were spoiled by terrific views over the expanse of ridges and valleys that form Korea’s largest national park.
From Samdobong, we began to descend. Next we had a date with the lovely Piagol valley. Possibly the most famous of Jirisan’s many lovely valleys, Piagol consists of a cool, dense forest surrounding a beautiful, boulder-filled stream of icy water. Like Banyabong, Piagol had been one of our favorite places on our previous visit, so we were on a mission to spend some time laying lizard-like on the rocks in the stream.
This accomplished, and our hunger satiated by some post-hike bibimbap, we departed. But, just like when we left Seoraksan, this was not goodbye. Jirisan was the setting for some of our most epic training runs ever a few weeks later, as well as the scene of our first and favorite ultra marathon. Jirisan National Park is an incredible slice of nature and an essential place to visit in Korea.
Know and Go! Banyabong (also: Nogodan, Samdobong & Piagol)
Transportation
There are two main ways of accessing the massive Jirisan National Park. On the west side, trains and buses serve the small town of Gurye. An early local bus takes hikers up to Seongsamjae Pass near Nogodan, and other buses serve the Hwaeomsa temple area. Starting at either Nogodan or Hwaeomsa, you can reach Banyabong in a few hours. Or you can take on the Hwadae traverse across the whole mountain ridge!
From the east, Hadong is an even smaller town than Gurye, but with good bus connections to nearby places like Jinju and Busan. Starting your hike in the east puts you closest to Cheonwangbong, the highest peak in the park. You could also pay a visit to the slightly further afield but absolutely serene Ssanggyesa Temple.
Hike & Run
What a wealth of options await you in Jirisan National Park! Of course, the literal crown of the park is the 25 kilometer traverse from Nogodan to Cheonwangbong. This long trail is a wonderful way to experience the vastness of the park, and 13 fun peaks along the way.
But, if you’re not up for that adventure, there are shorter hikes that make loops to and from this main trail. Hardcore hikers starting on the west side like the ascent from Hwaeomsa, but for the time-crunched or less ambitious, there’s a local bus that takes hikers up Seongsamjae Pass – just a couple of kilometers away from Nogodan peak.
Our Banyabong adventure began at Hwaeomsa, included Nogodan and Samdobong peaks as well, and descended in Piagol valley.
Over on the east side, many folks head straight up to Cheonwangbong peak.
But those are truly just the most mainstream options. There are a tremendous number of valley and ridge routes that lead up to (or down from) the main east-west ridge. For getting off the beaten trail or doing truly long hikes, options to the north and south are well-worth checking out. Three in particular stand out: the long northwest spur to/from Namwon, the long, remote trail from Ssanggyesa in the south up to the middle of the main ridge, and the continuation of the Hwadae traverse east of Cheonwangbong down to Daewonsa temple. Lots of happy trails to run or walk!
*My apologies for the lack of a map image here. But you can find an official map of the trails here!
Stay & Eat
With its huge land area, Jirisan National Park is completely surrounded by little towns and valleys filled with small and scenic, local-style accommodations. So it’s very easy to find yourself somewhere to stay. For our Banyabong climb, we were based in Gurye on the west side of Jirisan. Other hikes, including the direct route up to Cheonwangbong, are closer to the town of Hadong.
Although staying in the main access centers of Gurye and Hadong is easier, staying in a minbak or pension in one of Jirisan’s gorgeous valleys is a terrific experience: one worth braving transportation hurdles and language barriers for. Many of these places are so tranquil, you’ll forget where, and maybe even when, you are. One of my favorite experiences was staying at a small place up the central valley near Ssanggyesa. Stargazing and mountain gazing at their finest.
In terms of food, the smaller valleys tend to have more art galleries and cafes than real restaurants. The most popular exit and entryways, like Piagol Valley, Seongsamjae and Jungsanri at the base of Cheonwangbong, have wonderful food with lots of unique mountain vegetables and herbs. But as always, those with strong preferences or dietary restrictions might want to pack a picnic. This is especially true if you’re planning on doing a long hike, as supplies at the mountain shelters are limited.
Those same mountain shelters can also serve as your accommodation if you are doing something big. Jirisan National Park has by far the largest number of mountain shelters of any park in Korea, owing to its incredible size. But if your goal is to stay at one of their nine shelters, set your travel plans in advance. You can usually book your spot two weeks in advance online, but it is extremely competitive and spots usually sell out within minutes. This is especially true for the entire season of fall, weekends and all holidays. Rumors abound of foreigners being taken in by helpful shelter staff, but better for you to come well-prepared than wind up desperate.
Other Notes
Kent and I spent a special holiday in July hiking in Jirisan National Park. This was the 16th national park we visited during our mountain mission year. We did a 23.9 km point-to-point hike from Hwaeomsa temple to Piagol valley over 3 peaks: Nogodan, Banyabong and Samdobong.
We stayed in Gurye the night before our hike, and took a taxi to Hwaeomsa in the wee hours of the morning. Coming back, we used a local bus to get from Piagol valley back to Gurye to catch our return train home.
The highest peak on the Jirisan ridge is the 1915m Cheonwangbong. All of the other 12 peaks along the main ridge are quite high as well. Our peak of the day was 1734m Banyabong! This peak is on the Black Yak 100 summits challenge – and you can find out more about it here.
I reminisced about past routes in Jirisan and dreamed up new ones using the Korea National Park Service website.
Head back to the main Jirisan page for other adventures. And more national parks and 120 summits adventures await!