Geumsusan (금수산)

I did not know in advance that Geumsusan (금수산) would be part of Woraksan! It was a nice surprise to find ourselves continuing our exploration of Woraksan National Park (월악산국립공원) with our second peak of the day!

A photograph featuring the author and her husband on the top of Geumsusan in Woraksan National Park. The pair are posed to either side of the summit stele, which in this case is a boulder set among the craggy rocks of the summit. Both have one fist raised and big smiles for the camera.

An incredibly scenic drive followed our early morning Doraksan run. We twisted our way along a winding road right on the rocky shore of Chungjuho lake. A short time later, we pulled into what was perhaps our first paid parking lot in Korea! We’d found a remote service area that I suspect exists only to serve Geumsusan’s hikers!

A portrait of a lone Korean pine. It's short, with the gnarled branches and sparse needles characteristic of this species. It's been adorned with colorful paper lanterns, adding to its charm. The forest slopes of Geumsusan rise high in the background, and there's a small temple visible in the middle behind some bushes.
Local tree species

Parked, paid and packs on, we were ready to run again. Our Geumsusan climb followed a familiar pattern: a road led to a dirt path that cut through a farm and eventually led into the forest. From there, things got really exciting!

A vertical image meant to capture the steepness of Woraksan's peaks! A set of wooden steps lead dramatically down from the bottom of the frame. A valley with farmland and a small village stretches through the middle. Near the top of the frame, steep mountains rise up once more.
Exciting stairs characterize Woraksan National Park

We decided to take the left fork at a junction, heading up to Mangdeokbong first. It was a steep and thrilling trail. There were towering rock sculptures rising over the forest, and soon, we were up in the sky meeting them! There was a particularly wonderful observation deck that at first I thought was near the top, but turned out to be barely half-way up!

A photograph of the author, perched proudly on a boulder protruding through a wooden observation deck. She's got her trekking poles at her feet and her hands on her hips. Behind her is a wooden railing and a sea of undulating green mountains. A curve of blue river and the straight line of a highway are also visible below.
High point?

Needless to say, these climbs were really steep! The trails were also very dynamic: stairs, boulders, roots and dirt in different places. It wasn’t until we were nearing our first peak that things finally leveled out.

A classic Carrie plus summit photograph. She's standing on the base of the stone stele, with one leg kicked out to the side and one arm raised in the air, grinning at the camera. This summit stele has a curving, squiggly font, making it difficult to read the Hangul! This peak is surrounded by dense green forest.
Mangdoekbong!

Once on the summit ridge, we did a short jaunt to the left to meet our first peak! Mangdeokbong was a cozy one, even more snugly-forested than Doraksan! But it was lovely in that tropical and tranquil way that Korea has in the summer. We thanked our lucky stars that were alone once again, in a national park, and on a weekend – miraculous!

Our running accompaniment was the singing of birds, and we were witness to dozens of bugs being born. Dodging clouds of gnats was one thing – but at one point we had to run away from some unacceptably large wasps!

A horizontal photograph of the view from Geumsusan's ridge. A flat granite slab sticks out above a forested valley. Several Korean pine trees, shaped by strong winds and heavy snows, bend over the boulder. The many ridges of Woraksan National Park are seen rising one above the other in the south.
Pine view neighborhood

The ridge linking Mangdeokbong to Geumsusan’s summit was not a long one: a little less than 2 kilometers. But it was all nicely forested and over too quickly. Cooling dappled shade and runnable dirt trail meant that we blazed across it in no time.

We arrived on another lovely observation deck, just in time for a few moments of peace before a noisy, young tour group arrived, walkie-talkies blaring. They were friendly, but we were eager to greet the peak on our own. So we hurried ahead over a series of sky bridges and staircases to the peak!

A summit photograph featuring the author. She's standing on top of the Geumsusan summit stele, which in this case is a boulder set among the jagged rocks of the summit. A shapely pine tree reaches for the sky off to the left. Behind Carrie is mostly sky: cottony clouds trailing wisps across a blue sky. The mountains on the horizon appear like indigo waves in the distance.
Tippy-top!

And what a peak it was! I wished we could have lingered longer. Geumsusan has one of my favorite classic Korean summit types: a jagged rock protruding through the huge wooden picnic platform built around it. Some special, gnarly Korean pines grew from the rock, adding still more drama. And the stele was the same color stone as the peak: one roundish rock nestled among the crags!

It was really fun to clamber around and pose for pictures there. And lucky to have it to ourselves for a few minutes! Much as I wanted to stay, the huge group following us soon arrived, and spurred us onward.

A horizontal photograph that doesn't at first appear to contain the author! There is a slight clearing at the front of the frame, cut by a thin dirt trail. Tall trees rise up in a dense thicket a few meters ahead. The author is a tiny figure in a pink t-shirt running in the shade of these trees.
Forest creature.

Down we raced, a little sadly, away from the summit and back into the shade of the forest. Back by the parking lot, Kent enjoyed a fancy coffee at the cute Mountain Coffee Cafe. Then it was time for another scenic drive: the drive home.

A photo of a simple wooden hut housing a cafe at the bottom of Geumsusan. There's a Korean couple sitting at a long table behind some traditional clay kimchi pots. The name Mountain Coffee Cafe is printed on the sloped pavement leading to the cafe.

Know and Go! Geumsusan

Transportation

Compared to other Woraksan National Park destinations, Geumsusan is closer to civilization only as the crow flies. If you have a car (or money for a long taxi ride), you can get here from Danyang in 30-40 minutes. Danyang, as you may recall, is a great place to base yourself for either Sobaeksan National Park, or another Woraksan climb at nearby Doraksan.

However, there do not seem to be any public transit options from Danyang to Geumsusan. Instead, you can head to Jecheon, and transfer to bus 953. Fair warning: if you take this bus to the trailhead I used (described below), it will take nearly 2 hours! On the bright side, it’s a very scenic lakeside drive… Perhaps on the more realistic side, you could also consider hopping out early and starting your climb from another trailhead (have a look at Naver maps to see where this bus route intersects with the hiking trails).

Hike & Run

Geumsusan can be hiked (or run) as a straight out-and-back from the high parking lot at Sangcheon rest area. This makes for a snappy day trip with a decent amount of climbing in a short amount of time. However, if you came all this way, you may as well see a little more, right?

There is actually a fair bit of hiking in this northern section of Woraksan National Park! Geumsusan is the highlight, as the highest mountain in the area, but there are multiple other peaks that can be visited to the south, north and west. Most of the peaks to the south are significantly smaller, but overlook Chungjuho lake.

A close-up of a unique trail map found at the base of Geumsusan. This map is made of natural wood and painted! It shows two red lines leading up to Mangdeokbong and Geumsusan peaks, but somewhat misleadingly, not a trail in between! However, unlike many maps in Korea, it is oriented with North at the top, so it is easy to read.
Geumsusan trail map

The middle ground we chose was a neat loop that took in Mangdeokbong first, followed by Geumsusan’s main peak. I highly recommend this loop if you want to start and end in the same place, and if you want to see a little more of the area but don’t have a ton of time. (The map above doesn’t show the connecting trail, but I assure you that it is there, in good shape and well-traveled!)

Stay & Eat

There are a couple of pensions east of Sangcheon rest area. Stay here if you’d like the peak to yourself and a tranquil sleep besides. Think twice about staying here if you’re relying on public transit or didn’t plan ahead in terms of provisions. We had our own wheels for the weekend, so we stayed nearby at a motel on highway 36 with similar pros and cons.

For food, there are a few options in the way of light snacks and coffee (Kent-endorsed!). But there did not seem to be any sit-down style dining – and I saw little evidence of sanchae. In season, you might be able to buy fruit and other local products. However, I’d definitely recommend packing some of your own treats!

Other Notes

Geumsusan is on both mountain lists: it’s on the Korea Forest Service list here and the Black Yak list here.

We climbed Geumsusan in early June 2018 (right after Doraksan!). A 9 kilometer loop took us to the peak and one of it’s neighbors.

At 1016 meters high, Geumsusan towers over the surrounding ridges. There are excellent views to be had of those ridges from the summit observation platform!

Click to return to the Woraksan main page and explore more!

Want more of Korea’s marvelous mountains? Head back to the 120 summits main page, or check out more national parks!


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