Maisan (마이산)

I felt fantastic about this mountain before we’d even started our climb. Cute little Jinan and all of its small town charm and rainbow night lights charmed me. Tucking my umbrella into my running vest like a rain sword made me laugh. And most of all, I loved that we could run straight to the mountaintop from our riverside motel; the twin peaks of Maisan Provincial Park (마이산도립공원) always in our sights.

An image of the small, distant figure of the author running along a bicycle path. The scenery is typical of the Korean countryside, with farmland and farm houses to either side, with one big difference: ahead of the author are a pair of peaks shaped like a horse's ears!
Trail to the peaks!

This is such a unique park, even among the dozens of special peaks we met during our mountain mission year. It features not a ridge or a single peak, like most others, but two paired peaks. With their dramatic, almost-conical shapes, they’re said to resemble a horse’s ears – hence the name of the park! Actually, Maisan is just the most common name for this mountain. It has other names based on the changing of the seasons, which I found fascinating! This being summer, Maisan is also known as Dotdaebong.

An image of dew droplets coating a cluster of the deep green leaves of a Japanese maple tree.
Maple dew

We’d also found ourselves exploring Maisan on a unique day. As we approached, a thick fog born of the surrounding forest took shape over the peaks. The mist shrouded the unclimbable male peak from us at times, but weaved a bit of magic around us. Walking into a cloud gave everything an air of mystery, and hid the modernity below – leaving us free to contemplate the classical scenery.

A panoramic image of the forested slopes of Maisan. Below, to the left, lies the flat farmland surrounding the small town of Jinan. To the right, the second peak of the mountain is enveloped in a cloak of mist.
Overlooking Jinan

Ammaibong, the female peak, is the approachable one. Coming from Jinan, it’s a short, rocky climb straight up to the summit. On our way, we met some fellow hikers. We swapped cameras and spoke in the common language of smiles. In addition to our human encounters, we also found a frog friend! Rather, a toad – and a very large one! We lingered a little around the summit stele, with the damp, silent area all to ourselves.

A close-up image profiling a toad. This toad is several shades of green, with black lines running along his sides. He has many round bumps of different sizes and colors. One of his eyes is visible: two bands of bronze surrounding a black pupil.
Toad-aly adorable
An image of the author and her husband standing with the summit stele on Ammaibong. It is inscribed with a stylized Korean script, and both the author and her husband rest their hands on it. The surface around the stele is bare earth, and there is a stone cairn in the background in front of the forest.
Summit smiles

Later, we bounced back down the mountain for an exciting, new feast of deodeok bibimbap. We ran back to town having had a truly perfect morning. All this before nine am!

A panoramic image in green and grey. This image was taken on the way down from Ammaibong, and shows the two peaks rising above a central saddle. The unclimbable peak dominates the center of time image, while Ammaibong rises up out of the frame on the right-hand side. A wooden walkway is visible at the bottom of the image, leading towards the central saddle.
Between the horse’s ears
An image taken of the author and her husband beneath the peaks of Maisan Provincial Park. The pair are standing on a wooden walkway atop an artificial lake. They are smiling brightly at the camera, and both peaks are visible peeking out of the mist behind them.

We realized only afterwards that we’d missed out on Tapsa temple, located behind the horse’s ears to the south. We also spotted a map on our way out that depicted a network of trails radiating out from the park. Well, I guess that means we’ll just have to go back for more Maisan!

Know and Go! Maisan

Transportation

Maisan Provincial Park is located just outside the quaint little town of Jinan. There is a bike path leading out of the town to the south, or you can follow a road! Either way, you can see the park from town and head on over to it easily on foot. It’s just two or three kilometers from the town.

The closest major transportation hub is Jeonju, which has multiple train and bus connections to other Korean cities. Jeonju has local buses to and from Jinan. But although Jinan is nearby in the grand scheme of things, it’s not the easiest place to get to. You might find yourself on the bus for a couple of hours, stopping at every little town along the way. We opted to take a late night bus, spend the night and then do our exploring in the morning.

Hike & Run

There aren’t exactly a lot of trails in this mini park, but there doesn’t need to be! A quick, upward jaunt beginning to the north or south heads straight Amisan’s peak. Following a trail up and over the saddle between the horse-ears will bring you to Tapsa temple, or alternatively, to Jinan. Many visitors to this park follow a north-south line (or vice versa) that takes in both the peak and the temple.

An image of a faded map depicting the trails in Maisan Provincial Park. The trail appears as a red line heading north-south over the peak and through a temple ground.
Maisan Provincial Park trail map

For more strenuous hikes and longer adventures, check out the trails throughout Jinan-gun!

An additional map showing a trail network that extends beyond Maisan Provincial Park. Maisan's trails are in yellow, cutting across the middle of the map. Other trails, in red and orange, lead diagonally across neighboring ridges. The English title for this map is 'walking on the veins of the Republic of Korea in the Jinan'.
More trails around Maisan

Stay & Eat

Jinan is a small town, so you can find small town fare there. This includes a few marts and local restaurants, but nothing fancy. For the picky, stock up in Jeonju and have a picnic on the go. Or bring your favorites from home!

There is also a small tourist village at the base of the mountain for refueling before or after your hike. We enjoyed a post-run bibimbap there: a highly recommendable one that I’d never tried before featuring deodeok!

OTHER NOTES

Amaisan (Ammaibong) is the name of the summit. At 685m, a sharp rise over flatter terrain, it has a great view of the area and its twin! Maisan gets a mention on both lists of 100 famous summits in Korea: visit the Black Yak challenge or the Korea Forest Service site to learn more!

I visited Maisan Provincial Park with my husband in July 2016. This was the 6th provincial park we visited during our mountain mission year. We did a 10.6 out-and-back run, from Jinan to the summit and back.

Unlike most other provincial parks, I had heard of Maisan prior to our visit. It’s one of the area’s ‘eight scenic beauties’. Go in spring if you can to catch the cherry blossom festival in the park!

We visited this park as part of an unprecedented three-park adventure! Check out nearby Moaksan, and the wild, remote Yeonhwasan, too. More adventures await in other provincial parks and on the 120 summits, too!


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