Jogyesan (조계산)

This pretty park happened to be right next door to our our home during our mountain mission year! So technically, it was the first park that we visited, we just didn’t know it at the time! We learned about this park during our first week in our new home, and headed to it that very weekend. We also returned to it on our last weekend in Suncheon. It’s a lovely place: full of dense woods, scenic lookouts and two enchanting temples. Jogyesan Provincial Park (조계산도립공원) is distant enough from its neighboring towns to have a remote and peaceful vibe.

An image taken along the ridge of Jogyesan Provincial Park. In the foreground, there are two large, light grey boulders surrounded by tall flowering grasses. On the slope below there is a stand of evergreen pine trees. There are multiple mountains and hills beyond that disappear into the horizon haze.
Rocks and rolling hills

In early November 2015, we took the first bus out of town, driving into the darkness of the countryside. The ride took an hour, and I got sleepy sitting above a heater. Where we got out was truly in the middle of nowhere: on the side of a highway, with no buildings in sight! Luckily, the trailhead we’d found online was easy to spot in person, too. We began our trek from the north side of the park as dawn was just breaking. Every step upwards was also deeper into the diffuse blue light of the forest.

Soon we were on a high ridge, with views over forested valleys decked out in fall colors. In no time, we were standing on the highest peak: 884m Janggunbong! From here we had some of our best views of the day, as the rocky summit served as a lookout. To the west, we gazed over uninterrupted forest as far as the eye could see. The view to the east was also over a colorful valley, with some tiny temple buildings in the distance.

An image of the author and her husband standing in front of the summit stele on Janggunbong. The author is wearing a blue jacket and has one arm enthusiastically raised. Behind the pair, the summit stele is a small, oval-shaped grey rock inscribed with Chinese characters. It is a grey day, the sky barely distinguishable from the rocky summit.
All smiles on the summit

But today, the summit was only the beginning. We had a plan to walk from the north of the park to the south along the highest ridge. So after a short break, we continued. In and out of the forest, through long thick grasses and over several more peaks. During a stop on another summit, my husband declared his undying love…for oreos. We ended our day by the side of a highway once more, at the opposite end of the park.

An image of the author, standing behind her husband on a trail. The two are in the forest: the brown trunks of trees rising high above a low layer of flat-leaved plants.
On the trail
An image of the summit stele on top of Godongsan mountain. The stele is small and rectangular, inscribed with the Korean characters for the mountain's name. There is a small bronze plaque bearing the height of the mountain, which is 709 meters. The grassy peak is brown, and green ridges are visible in the distance below.
The view from Godongsan

One year later, in early October 2016, we picked this park as the setting for one of our last adventures of the year. We’d completed our mission to every visit national and provincial park, and it was nice to be back to the start again after a busy year. This time, we decided to run, and do a different route looping through the park. We would begin in the north again, but this time swing west, then east in order to take in the two temples.

So upon reaching the ridge (after another twilight climb!), we took a path to the right. We quickly discovered a parallel peak of a similar height to the main summit! We could clearly see Janggunbong across the valley. From there, we half-tumbled down a slippery slope to Songgwangsa Temple. We found ourselves quite alone there, so we had a nice look around before heading back up the mountain.

An image of the author and her husband on Yeongsanbong. The author's husband appears close to the camera, wearing a green jacket and a blue running vest. The author stands behind the small summit stele with one arm raised. She is wearing black tights, a black sweater and a green running vest. Beyond this peak, the ridge and slightly higher Janggunbong peak are visible.
At Yeonsanbong
An image of a stream flowing in shadow below a brightly colored temple building. Rays of sunlight illuminate the trees on the opposite side of the stream. The scene is calm and quiet.
Serene Songgwangsa Temple

After some retracing of our steps, we took a branch of the trail heading into the deep valley between the two parallel ridges. There, as promised by some friends of ours, was a delightful little mountain restaurant. We stopped the GPS watch, took off our vests, and sprawled out on a raised platform. Significant resting and feasting took place!

An image of the author behind a huge tray containing salad, soup, barley and side dishes. The author is lounging behind the spread, beside a metal bowl filled with local rice wine. The scene is illuminated by sunlight.
A feast!

Later, we bowed and weaved our way through hordes of hikers climbing up to the main summit. Finding it packed, we thanked our lucky stars that we’d had a summit to ourselves already, and that we’d been to Janggunbong before. We abandoned our place in the photo queue, and dashed down the east side of the mountain towards Seonamsa Temple.

An image of the author running along a dirt trail in Jogyesan Provincial Park. She is midair in the shot, arms raised by her shoulders and one leg stretched out in front of her. Her clothes are all black, in contrast to the green leaves and grass surrounding the trail.
Great trails!

A few tranquil trail kilometers later, we were finished. Finished running for the day, and finished visiting national and provincial parks for the year. In just a few days, we’d be leaving the country (Not for long though: we returned to South Korea in January 2017 for another round of adventures!). But our second Jogyesan outing was a perfect way of saying goodbye to the mountains of South Korea.

Know and Go! Jogyesan

Transportation

Suncheon is the nearest major city to this park. Suncheon is on one of the KTX high speed train lines from Seoul. It is also very well-connected by bus to other cities around the peninsula, so its quite easy to get to for a weekend trip.

Coming from Suncheon bus terminal, you can take bus 1 to Seonamsa Temple or bus 111 to Songgwangsa Temple. Both temples are fairly far outside of town, so taking a bus is your best option. Taxis will can also escort you to one of the temples, but for a higher price.

Several buses also run on the secondary highways near the trailheads to the north and south of the park. For both of our trips, we took bus 111 heading north on highway 17.

Hike & Run

The routes in Jogyesan Provincial Park form the shape of cross, or maybe a diamond with a long tail. The main trails include three, roughly parallel routes through the east-west width of the park, and a single, extended north-south route.

All of these routes are awesome and worthwhile. The most popular route is known by foreigners as the temple to temple course, for obvious reasons. This route traverses the park from one side to the other, taking in both Seonamsa and Songgwangsa Temples. If you like dining on mountain vegetables, make sure to stop off at the friendly little restaurant in the valley between the two. The highest peak is located near Seonamsa, so a trek between the temples would also put you on the summit of the park, with nice views over the forest. Those looking for a more significant hike or run (and to bypass the majority of the crowds) might enjoy the long north-south route.

An image of the author standing in front of a huge map of Jogyesan Provincial Park. However, the details of the map are a little too small to read.
With the Jogyesan Provincial Park trail map
An image of a trail map displayed on a large stone tablet. The vertical Korean text labels a 16.4 kilometer area as an offshoot of the Baekdudaegan, a long-distance trekking trail that spans the length of South Korea. The map is an elevation map in shades of grey, with a long, dotted yellow line indicating the trail.
Jogyesan and beyond!

Stay & Eat

Well-connected Suncheon is probably your best bet for a base. Suncheon is a major city with grocery stores, guesthouses and hotels, cafes and restaurants. There are clusters of businesses surrounding the bus terminal and train station, both of which are downtown. Suncheon itself is a pretty standard city, but nearby Suncheon Gardens, Suncheon Bay, and Nagan Castle & Folk Village are fun places to visit if you have a little extra time for tourism.

Other Notes

The main peak of Jogyesan Provincial Park is 884m Janggunbong. It’s a well-noted one: check it out on the Black Yak 100 summits challenge and the Korea Forest Service list of important peaks!

Kent and I visited this park and it’s peak twice! It was both the first and the last adventure of our mountain mission year. We did an 18.1k north to south hike on our first trip, and a 20.8k run from north to west to east on our second visit.

Jogyesan Provincial Park does not have an official website, at least not in English. Your best bet is to have a look at your Naver map app for route planning. Other resources include the Visit Korea, Lonely Planet and Rough Guides websites, which have short write-ups about the park.

Please come explore other provincial parks here, or join me for adventures on more of Korea’s 120 famous summits here!


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