Best Autumn Foliage in Korea - Naejangsan

Written by : Korea Wanderers

Hello dear readers! It has been a while since my last post so, I thought of treating you guys with a story about the place where, you can see the most beautiful colors Autumn in Korea. Though a person who is interested in hiking might be quite familiar with this amazing place, I am sure for most of you this is your first time hearing about this national park. But before the we jump into the story, lets have a look at what we can expect to see there, shall we?

Naejangsan National Park is home to Mount Naejang and, it is situated near Jeong-up, a city in North Jeolla Province (Jeollabuk-do) in the southwest of Korea. This mountain is well-known primarily for its vivid crimson foliage, 600-year-old nutmeg trees, and waterfalls. At Naejangsan national park, you can visit two famous Buddhist temples namely; Baekyangsa and Naejangsa Temples. So, how did I go to this beautiful place? Lemme tell ya. From central city (Honam Line) there is a bus that goes to Jeong-up city. It takes roughly 3 hours to reach there from Seoul. You can also take a train to Jeong-up station as well. I left Seoul taking the bus at 6 PM and I reach Jeong-up around 9 PM. There were so many hotels, motels and mointels so, worry not, you will not be sleeping outside 😉. After a good night sleep, we woke up at 5 AM to take the morning bus (Bus no 170) which would take us to Naejangsan national park from Jeong-up station. From Jeong-up station it takes about 30 to 40 minutes to reach the park. However, the road to Naejangsan is so beautiful speciall because of crimson color mountains. Upon arriving at the park, you will have to go through a disinfection area and entering without a mask is prohibited. To enter the park, they will charge 3,000 won, roughly 3 dollars. Once you enter the park, you will see a plethora of crimson color trees which would make you run and take pictures at each and every corner. Here is a photo of what to expect.

Though it was tempting to stop at every corner and snap a couple of pictures, we had a bigger goal. We wanted to hike most of the ridge taking the route Dongguri -> Yugunji -> Janggunbong ->Yeonjabong -> Sinseongbong -> kkachibong -> kkachibong entrance -> Naejangsa temple. We hiked relatively fast so, we finished the entire hike in about 6 hours amidst heavy rain. From Janggunbong to Sinseongbong the ridge becomes very narrow so, if you have a faint heart, this is definitely not for you. But, if you are a bit of nutcase like I am, you can opt to take daring photos like this 😎.

From the ridge you can see the entire park area. From the highest peak, you can't get a view like that so, I will show you what you could see, should you reach this point.

From sinseongbong to kkachibong was quite steep specially, the final 100 m or so. View from the Kkachibong should have been amazing but, due to poor weather we couldn't observe much. So, we paced up and climbed down to Naejangsa temple. We were engulfed by millions of leaves with colors ranging from yellow to red.

After spending sometime clicking photos, we concluded our trip by taking bus 170 back to Jeong-up station. I have noticed that many have littered the trail which is really sad. I carried few garbage back down and disposed them. So, I humbly request you not to leave anything behind. Always remember, TAKE ONLY MEMORIES AND LEAVE ONLY FOOT PRINTS. Until Next.. Janith