Maybe Korea was once known as the hermit kingdom because it would be so easy for one to be a hermit here. The landscape folds out across the peninsula like fans on a merchant’s table: undulating layers of peaks and valleys that only slowly reveal themselves to the curious eye. Korea’s ancient Buddhist heritage means that there are indeed hermits living here, in small temples scattered through the forests and dotted far up into the mountains. The more you explore, and the more often you explore, you can start to feel like a hermit yourself! Hiking is a popular pastime in this country, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible to find yourself alone in nature. On a stormy peak in the middle of winter; on a remote ridge at dawn; deep in the forest at sunset: with or without others, in the mountains of Korea you can connect to an ancient peace and discover incredible natural beauty.
My first mountain
My introduction to the mountains of Korea was in 2012. I took an organized trip to Seoraksan (설악산) – Korea’s second biggest and most famous national park. It seems hard to believe now, but I hadn’t really done major hiking before! Still, as an avid runner and nature lover, it seemed like the perfect spring outing. Little did I know what a passion that one trip would ignite!
After an amazing weekend away and climbing only my second sizable summit, I immediately dreamed of more. But my first epic Korean adventure was on bikes – pedaling from Seoul to Busan that same summer. Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about the untapped potential of the mountains. When my husband and I returned to Korea in 2014, heading to the mountains was foremost on our minds.
We decided to start by scaling the three highest peaks in South Korea. We spent every weekend hiking from dawn until dusk on our local ranges in preparation, and by the end of the year, we had succeeded with our three peaks project!
National parks mission
But that was far from the end. Having transitioned to trail running from road running, mountains were more on my mind than ever. When I returned to Korea again in 2015, I decided to focus on climbing to the highest peak in every national park within the year. (My other focus was on preparing to run my first ultra marathon – turns out these two goals were rather complimentary!) So in November 2015, my adventure partner endorsed my plan, and we began. Every Friday after work, we would pack our bags and leap on a bus or train out of town. We’d explore one park or two or even three. Two months later, we’d visited eight out of 22 national parks!
But we felt like we were just getting warmed up. So we decided to add every provincial park to our list as well!
Climbing every mountain
By the end of the year in October 2016, we’d reached our goal. We’d visited twenty-two national parks, twenty provincial parks, and some other lovely peaks besides. Our mountain mission was, without a doubt, one of the best things we’ve ever done. One of the most amazing things about it was that we found each of those parks to be incredibly unique and distinct from the others. Some were massive mountains with long ridgelines and challenging climbs. Others were small peaks overlooking stretches of island-dotted sea. Some parks were densely sign-posted and heavily trafficked. Others were remote and quiet, with overgrown paths. And criss-crossing the country every weekend meant that we also unwittingly did a bit of a bus route, motel and convenience store tour too.
And the fun was far from over! We’d come in contact with many like-minded souls on our original mountain mission. And we found out through this community about a second mountain mission: the 120 summits quest! We spent 2018 criss-crossing the country again in search of still more summits.
There is so much to see on these slopes, and there are so many trails to tread. Each is a wonderful experience for its own reasons, and together the mountains of Korea paint a picture of a diversity and great beauty, all packed into this small peninsula. It’s a place where classic East Asian scenery has shaped the character of the food and the people. They’ll shape your experience there too, if you let them. The mountains of Korea are awesome.
Explore the mountains of Korea with me, by national park, provincial park or 120 summits!