Namhansanseong (남한산성)

A historical fortress. Rolling, forested hills dotted with inviting picnic areas. Dramatic views over the metropolitan sprawl. Secret temples. Namhansanseong Provincial Park (남한산성도립공원) offers all of the above, and to us, is an old friend.

An early morning image of the south gate of Namhansanseong. A large bush of bright, purple flowers dominates the lower left of the image. Behind the bush, a rounded entryway tunnels through a large stone gate. A wooden pavilion, painted in traditional colors and with a sloping rooftop, rises above the gate.
Namhansanseong Provincial Park in spring!

We discovered this UNESCO heritage site in 2014, when we lived in the suburbs of Seongnam – one of Gyeonggi-do’s big cities. At the time, we were training for the Annapurna circuit trek: a multi-day circuit that would take us around the amazing Annapurna massif and up to its base camp. In Namhansanseong, we found a picturesque place for long hikes that would get us acquainted with our heavy packs. Together with another parallel range of mountains, we spent nearly every weekend that year these trails.

A large, ancient tree dominates this vertical image taken at Namhansanseong Provincial Park. Sunlight catches the top branches and paints its leaves golden. All else is left in the shadow of early morning. Beyond the tree is the imposing outer face of the fortress wall, with a dramatic gate off to the right. There are some flowers blooming alongside the entrance.
Namhansanseong in summer…
An image capturing one of the many rock gardens on the slopes of Namhansan, in Namhansanseong Provincial Park. Here, the stone cairns rise over a rainbow carpet of fallen leaves. Bright red and still-green leaves mingle in contrast on the branches above the garden.
…in fall…
An image of a lone Korean pine tree, rising above a stone fortress wall in Namhansanseong Provincial Park. It is caked and topped with powdery snow, and snow carpets the ground below the wall as well. The undulating landscape is visible beyond, under a bright blue sky.
…and in winter!

But although we enjoyed many Namhansanseong outings then, we did not revisit the park in 2016, our first mountain mission year. This was not a snub or a slight – just another simple case of running out of time. However, that made our most recent visit in May 2018, all the better.

We began our run before dawn. It was surprisingly cool – verging on cold – for May, and surprisingly busy for a weekday morning! The latter impression might be attributable to the fact that we’re now country folk… Dressed just in t-shirts, the chill motivated us to move quickly! Leaving the lights and sounds of the city behind, we entered the forest and began our adventure in earnest.

A pre-dawn image in blues and blacks. The slopes of Namhansan fill the bottom of the frame. The image is centered on the orange glow of traffic light and grey blocks of apartment buildings under a brightening early morning sky.

The climb up Namhansan is brief, following a road that eventually turns into a trail, and briefly emerges onto another road. Arriving at the south gate, I had an overwhelming feeling of familiarity. The last time we’d been here, it had looked just the same, complete with a bright moon rising over the illuminated grey walls. What a striking sight!

In this image, the tiny but bright sphere of the moon rises high over the wooden roof of pavilion in Namhansanseong Provincial Park. The sky is lit various shades of blue by the rising sun, and the pavilion is also lit from below by floodlights.

Inside, we turned right to run along a favored route. We chose the trail right alongside the fortress wall. As it follows rolling landscape, the trail rises and falls along with the wall. Sometimes peeking over the fence revealed a dramatic drop to a dirt road below. At other times, the wall was nearly swallowed up in forest leaning in from either side. This route is a lot of fun because sometimes you can run quickly over gentle dirt paths – but it also requires some steep rocky climbs and descents! At some of the lowest points, you can leave the fortress via small, secret gates. On previous adventures, we’d use these to link the fortress trails with long distance ridge trails.

An image depicting the trail running alongside the fortress wall. Close to the photographer, the trail plunges downward over a series of rocky steps. In the distance, the trail is an even dirt path hugging the stone wall. On the outside of the wall, another thin trail is visible. Verdant forest lines either side of the wall.

This time, however, instead of running out of the park and following the mountain spine, we stayed on the fortress walls! There were still new sights to be seen! We turned left after a while and ran up a road to see a temple. Colorful lanterns lined the way up and adorned the temple buildings. Two barking but ultimately friendly blond dogs followed us around the place, which was otherwise still and silent.

Colorful lanterns decorate an outdoor terrace around a cave featuring Buddhist statues. The lanterns, in red, green, yellow, blue and pink, are hung in neat rows from a metal structure overhead.

After taking in the sights, old and new, we returned the way we had come. We couldn’t linger in the chilly air – and we had a plane to catch later on! But how wonderful to enjoy a favorite place all over again!

An image of the author and her husband in Namhansanseong Provincial Park. The pair are standing on a flat, even section of the trail beside the fortress walls. Kent is taking the picture, as always, and is wearing a green shirt. The author is slightly behind him, wearing a blue shirt and a long braid.

Know and Go! Namhansanseong

Transportation

There are many ways to access this pretty provincial park, and all are simple. Thanks to its location just southeast of Seoul, Namhansanseong is just a subway ride away! There’s even a subway station named after it on the pink line, line 8.  This starting point, in Seongnam, is the one we chose for this and several other previous adventures. But you can also access Namhansanseong from the north, near Macheon station (the end of the purple line, line 5). Outside Seoul, Hanam and Gyeonggi Gwangju also have slightly more obscure entrances.

Hike & Run

During our most recent visit, we noticed stamps for a brand new ‘tour of Namhansanseong’! If that’s your kind of thing, that might well be worth looking into. As mentioned above, there are several ways to get up and into the mountaintop park. In the provincial park, the main trails (yes, trails plural – there are many parallel routes on, below and near the wall in the forest) follow the fortress walls, so one option is to make a loop and take it all in. Other trails run across the middle of the fortress – making smaller loops possible, and still others lead off to little temples. Finally, for a longer adventure, I’d highly recommend following the mountain ridge out of the fortress as it meanders south.

An image depicting the network of trails within Namhansanseong Provincial Park. The trails leading into and out of the park appear in different colors, while the wall itself is a white loop in the center.
Namhansanseong Provincial Park ‘old walks’ trail map
A second image of a map - this one depicting the ridge trails leading south from Namhansanseong Provincial Park.
Namhansanseong Provincial Park area trail map

Stay & Eat

With its proximity to Seoul and Seongnam, Namhansanseong Provincial Park makes for a simple day trip. If you live in the metro, lucky you: you can sleep in your own bed and pack a picnic of your favorite snacks! But if you’re coming from out of town and you want to stay nearby, there’s a cluster of motels near Namhansanseong station. There are also plenty of restaurants in this area. There may be a couple of places in the forest near the temples where you can get fresh mountain fare too. I must confess I don’t know much about the local food options because Kent and I are pretty committed to cooking when we’re based from home – and to patronizing my favorite veg restaurants in Seoul now that we’re based out of town.

Other Notes

We most recently visited this park in early May 2018 for an 11k out-and-back jaunt along the wall and up to Mangwolsa temple. As residents of Seongnam in the past, we’d also spent time in this park in 2014 and 2015.

The fortress is named for Namhansan – or South Seoul mountain. Although this mountain stands 522 meters tall according to map data, it does not seemed to be marked in any discernible way in person. While the lack of a summit stele might make you frown, don’t fret. There’s plenty to enjoy in the way of photogenic scenery, both natural (the slopes and forests) and man-made (the fortress wall, of course!).

For more information about Namhansanseong Provincial Park, pay it a visit! Or, have a look at this short summary on Visit Korea.

Please come explore other provincial parks right here!


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