Mt. Geumosan Expedition: A Mountain Temple Visit and a Relaxing Picnic by the Lake

Geumosan National Park (금오산, 976M) is the perfect package of beauty with a broad range of ways to spend your weekend – perfect for hikers, outdoor lovers and families alike.

Within Geumosan National Park is a large lake – complete with a 3km walking path – restaurants, coffee shops & various facilities, a small amusement park, camping and hotel options, riverside picnic areas, and a wide variety of hiking and walking courses + a cable car.

Geumosan in the city of Gumi (구미), which is north of Daegu, and sits adjacent to the downtown area. This area is characterized by its cherry blossom lined stream which runs through the center of downtown.

Additionally, this place is extremely family friendly – it was practically over run with families on this Saturday afternoon.

The cable car and/or some stair walking makes for a very family friendly trek to see a waterfall and if you decide to go a little bit further there’s also a great view that overlooks the lake. Photos to come later in the post.

This isn’t a ‘must go autumn spot’ as most of the trees (especially lower set) are pine and other evergreen species so no pretty fall leaves to get excited over. But I suspect that it’s very beautiful in the winter with some snow on the ground and branches.

You can start from either the lake or the parking lot closer to the entrance of the mountain. We opted to include the lake. Parking was 3,500원 per vehicle (cash only), with no charge per person. Additionally, there was no entrance fee for the park.

There is no swimming allowed anywhere in the park, but you can rent one of the ‘duck boats’ to peddle around the lake in.

Hiking Geumosan

From the lake to the summit and back, it was 14km. I’d estimate that 7km of that was actually hiking. But what this course lacks in distance it makes up in the grade of the trail in the second half.

There are multiple routes that lead to the summit, the red trail is the most frequented and has received the most care

I went hiking with two of my friends who aren’t avid hikers and they STRUGGLED on the hike up (the second half). But the hike is nicely divided which makes it both manageable and easy to understand your position on the trail. If you don’t want to make an intense journey there are additional options for you (cable car, stopping early, shorter trail from the lake etc.)

Starting at the entrance, the sign reads 3.3km to the summit and 1.2km to the waterfall.

This hike is divided by the waterfall that’s quite centrally located along the trail. The cable car runs between the park’s entrance and this point. As a result there’s no shortage of coffee shops, bathrooms and water spouts available to you on this section.

The trail leading to the waterfall is not intense – lower height stairs and flattish rocks between cement fillings with only a slight upward angle – and was full of little kids holding their parents’ hands walking the course.

Once reaching the waterfall, the trail transitions to a medium and then expert difficulty. With steeper than average stairs (but nothing crazy), you are rewarded soon after this change with a beautiful view.

After this view point, the course is more rocky but maintains the steep climb. The climb seems to go on forever – especially when you travel with slower hikers. sigh. It’s the elevation gain rather than a technical difficulty to the trail that makes it intense. But if you look back, theres often a view at the higher points – even with full coverage leaves in the summer.

With 800 meters left, the trail flattens for 400 meters and then its a medium difficulty climb. Before reaching the top there is a water spout (with government tested water) and a massive helipad area with open views – great lunch or resting stop. But the summit is only 50 or so meters away so if you are impatient to summit, you can come check this place out on the way down.

In classic Korean fashion, my friends and I were force fed various snacks and makgeolli by an old man here.

On the summit there are two ‘summit stones’ the original with no view and the newer stone with an amazing view that’s directly above the Yaksaam Temple (약사암), resting on the side of the mountain face.

If you wander around a bit there’s another spot, which I was able to photograph when some older men decided that was to be their lunch spot.

On the way down, in about 10-20 meters, is the entrance to the temple. You can miss it easily if you aren’t paying attention because its 5 meters or so out of the way and not directly visible from the trail. So take your time. You don’t want to miss it.

According to a random hiker we met at the temple, normally you are able to go down to the temple but you can’t go onto the bridge to the bell area. So we were very luck to be able to cross the bridge.

My friend and numerous others were terrified when the bridge swayed under their feet. It was sort of funny, but I kept my laugh quiet for the sake of the friendship.

The gazebo/bandstand like structure on the cliff was interesting. It had the traditional Korean colors and painting design, and contained a large bell. Ascribed on the bell are the names of former Korean presidents and leaders.