This winter I will make my 9th trip to Jirisan National Park. As a former Jeollanam-do resident this massive (for korea) national park has turned into my go to spot for a challenging adventure. One of my all time favorite hikes was the 3 day 2 night trip I did in late fall of 2019. In the pre-covid era (and now once again!) its possible to reserve a night on the mountain in the shelter. If the full course is of interest check out my guide (here). But if that level of craziness isn’t up your alley, I wanted to offer you the following two recommendations for a day hike in Jirisan National Park.

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Summiting the peak – Cheonwangbong/천왕봉 (1915m)

This is a tough one – with a climb straight to the top that makes you feel like you truly accomplished something. Similar to Seoraksan’s peak from the Oseak Information station, it’s a difficult trail that’s best started while it’s dark to get the best view from the peak. This section of the course is a total of 5.4km of straight up hill struggling.

I would recommend a start of between 4:30am-5:30am for good morning light, without having to hike the whole way in darkness. But for sunrise at the top, you need to start closer to 3am. The time varies by season, as winter time starting time is at 4am.

The first 1-2km are fairly flat, but then transition to a steep rocky trail. This transition happens at the junction (칼바위). Make sure to stick the trail on your right, heading toward 천왕봉. This junction can be seen on the map included below.

The trail is well maintained with multiple resting flat platforms throughout. In you hiked this course during corona, there wasn’t a shortage of “masks are mandatory” banners placed seemingly at the most difficult points, when breathing is difficult on its own. A humorous sight to behold.

The final 1km of the course is stairs hell, but incredibly beautiful (it’s currently my phone background). Although the last 1km is equally if not more difficult that the previous one, you will likely be making a number of stops to take pictures of the view which makes it much more manageable.

Course 1: 중산리 -> 천왕봉 (1915m,정상) -> 중산리 주차장.

From here you can head down the way you came, which is tough on the knees, but the shortest course. Its likewise the most conveient if you need to rely on public transportation. Course 1’s start and end point Jungsanri/중산리 has a decently large parking area as well as bus services to Jinju. From Jinju its easy to go by bus from the terminal back to Seoul. The bus that connects the have the following departure form jungsansi times (left) and departure from Jinju times (right). These are subject to change. These were updated as of October 10th 2022.

For a longer and more complex hike, you can elect to go as far as Seseok Shelter.

Course 2: 18km, 10-11 hours; 중산리 주차장 -> 천왕봉 (1915m,정상) -> 징터목 대피소 -> 석세디피소 -> 거림 주차장

This course brings you past two rest shelters, where you can rest and eat food ( the only place you are allowed to legally cook in the park). If you want to turn this into a two day adventure, you can book ahead of time and stay at the shelters. You reserve these shelters ahead of time, and for as many as 5 people.

Option 2 is to head on down to the Jangteomok Shelter (장터목대피소), across the ridge that has you conquering the Yeonhabong Peak and the Samsinboing Peak, then down to Saeseok Shelter (세석평전 대피소), ending that the the Georim Jirisan ticket office (거림매표소). It’s incredibly beautiful and completely worth the effort, but its not an easy one. It’s tough and you need to be prepared. See the above map, following the red arrows for the full course.

At the second shelter (Seseok Shelter) you would turn down the mountain, heading toward Georim (거림).

Afterwards enjoy one of the restaurants located at the bottom of the hiking trail. Don’t forget to try the local pink Makgeolli!

Sunrise on Nogodan/노고단 (1507m)

I’ve done this exact hike twice now – once in the spring and early winter. Additionally, I’ve hiked this section an additional 3 times to do the full Jirisan hike (just not stopping at the Nogodan peak). Its extremely well trafficked and well maintained. Regardless of the time of year, this course has a lot of offer.

As one of the highest peaks in Korea you might believe that its going to be a tough climb. But in fact it’s quite easy, with no spot one that is particularly difficult. That is because the starting point, Seongsamjaebunso (성삼재) sits high up the mountain, so the drive has you cutting off hundreds of meters of elevation you would have needed to hike.

In the snow, I brought along a friend who hadn’t hiked since he was a little kid and he told me it wasn’t difficult – so if you don’t trust the crazy hiking lady’s definition of what’s difficult, you can believe a beginner.

Course: 9-8.5km, 성삼재휴게소 -> 노고단 대피소 -> 노고단 정상 -> 노고단 대피소 -> 성삼재

Recommended start time: 1 hr 20-35 minutes before sunrise (depending on your pace)

To see the peak you have to walk past a booth at Nogodan Hill/노고단고개. In order to go to the peak, you need to make a trail appointment for all of the members in your group. The ;link to do that can be found here. You need to select 탐방로 예약제 then the mountian and course you want to hike (지리산 -> 지리산 노고당). This is also where you can book your stay in the shelters and campsites owned by park service.

There is a limit to the number of people who can go to the peak at certain times of day. So especially if you are wanting to travel there for a weekend hike, I would recommend making this booking early.

After showing your appointment to guard at the booth, you can continue up to the peak area. Just another 0.7km to the peak.

Transportation:

There is a bus, 10-1, that runs a loops from the Gyre Bus Terminal (구레공영버스티미널) passing by the Hwaeomsa Temple (화엄사 [the lower most red arrow in the provide map]) which is the starting point of the full course route of Jirisan. This starting point has you passing by Nogodan Peak enterance, but this course is significantly more difficult because there’s an additional couple hundred meters of elevation gain you have to hike. While the bus does run during the day, it isn’t an option for a sunrise hike. I would recommend looking up the Gyre Bus terminal for an updated schedule.

Whats your favorite Jirisan course? Got anything you can recommend to this crazy hiking lady?

Happy trekking everyone! – Aurora