Best trails in Jirisan National Park
Jirisan National Park, which expands through three provinces and five cities is Korea's first ever designated national park. It is also the largest park in South Korea. In the past, natives devoted themselves to Jirisan to seek truth. This is why its name means "the mountain of the odd and wise people." Jirisan is also known to be one of three legendary mountains in Korea. The biodiversity in Jirisan is vast, there are over 4,000 species inhabiting the park. The park also consists of waterfalls and cultural temples.
Top trails
Trail reviews for Jirisan National Park
I did this hike in February, in order to do a 3 days trek doing Nogodan, Banyabong and Jirisan peaks. However, the trail was closed from Nogodan because of snow conditions. Still a very beautiful point of view on top of Nogodan. Quite easy from Seongsamjae rest area, very accessible. No bus goes there from Gurye, so I walked from Choneunsa temple. So add about 7 km and about 800 m ascending. Nogodan shelter is very warm and cozy.
The famous 27-mile Jirisan traverse over 2 days. The trail was extremely difficult with lots of uphills and downhills. Downhills are not just downhill; there are crazy uphills that cause exhaustion of your stamina. The last downhill after Cheonwangbong is long and tiring, so get yourself ready and prepared for it. It was an epic hike deep in the Korea’s most popular mountain.
We parked in the parking lot of the Cheonghak-dong Visitor Support Center, walked around Hwanjong, and visited Samsung Palace (entrance fee 8). The view is very good, if you go to the top you can see the foot of Jirisan Mountain, which is very open!!!