Hiking the Longest Trail in Seoraksan National Park

Exploring Seoraksan National Park is undeniably a must-do adventure for anyone with a Korean bucket list, and the park offers an abundance of ways to immerse yourself in its natural beauty.
Within this article, I will delve into Seoraksan’s most extensive hiking route available; the full Ridge Course / 설악산 대종주.

At 38km, it is 16km longer than the famous Dinosaur Ridge & Main Peak hike, that has taken the internet by storm. With a net 2,650 meters of elevation gains, it’s going to put your legs to work.

It brings you through 5 distinct areas of the park:

• The Western Valley
• The Northwestern Ridge
• The Main Peak
• The Dinosaur Ridge
• & the Central Valley.

While it has so much to offer, its relative obscurity to the foreigner hiking community is in part because of its extreme difficulty as well as the extra complications with transportation. But through this guide I can help you make this hiking dream a reality.

Click to skip to the following sections in the guide:

• Transportation
• The Hike
• Overnight Options
  • Staying on the Mountain
  • Staying on the beach in Sokcho
• Bailing Out Early

If you want to support my blog or get yourself some cool Korean national park swag, please consider checking out my Etsy shop! I make Korean camping and hiking souvenirs!

The Seoraksan Full Ridge 38km Course (설악산 대종주):

The course is simply described with the folowing check points:

남교리 -> 서북능선(Northwest Ridge) -> 대청봉 (Main Peak) -> 공룡능성 (Dinosaur Ridge) -> GREEN: 소공원 (Main Entrance)

Transportation

Getting to Sokcho

Transportation from Seoul to Sokcho, the local large town that Seoraksan is adjacent to, is fairly straightforward. There are buses that run from early morning till late evening from Seoul’s Express bus terminal/ 서울경부 to the Sokcho bus terminal. I would recommend buying your tickets earlier online especially if you wanting to travel between (Friday-Sunday) or if you want to travel in the post-work hours.

The bus trip is about 2.5 hours and the cost of a ticket ranges from 17,200 to 31,700원 (different buses run this route and more ‘luxury buses’ have a higher cost).

Getting to the trail head

The transportation difficultly lies in the starting location. The Namgyori visitor center (남교리) is on the complete opposite side of Seoraksan National Park, not near any major town. It’s a 45 minute drive or nearly two hours by public transportation from Sokcho.

Due to the length of this course, you would need to start in the late evening/super early morning. (Ex. I started at midnight). But as one might imagine public transportation in the middle of the countryside doesn’t make that easy.

Ultimately, I believe either you need a taxi or a special arranged hiking tour bus. I mention the hiking tour because my local hiking group specializing in more advanced courses did in fact arrange this trip, but for most people the taxi option is much more practical.

The estimated taxi ride cost from downtown Sokcho is 25,000-30,000원.

This taxi expense is a one time large expense, for the end location has public transportation options and is more conveniently located making an additional taxi fee a fraction of the cost.

Ending Point (설악동탐방원센터)
Seoraksan National Park Oeseorak Ticket Office
강원특별자치도 속초시 설악동 111-1
https://naver.me/FzQG8BLy

Starting point (남교리)
Seoraksan National Park Namgyori Visiting Information Center
강원 인제군 북면 십이선녀탕길 83-1
https://naver.me/FbiSR5Vu

The Hike

I completed this monster course in June of 2023 with my favorite bus tour hiking company, 좋은사람들. My bus departed at 9pm from Seoul, and we arrived at the starting point at 11:45pm. At midnight we started the hike.

My tour gave us a deadline of 6pm / 18 hours to finish. I would arrive at the bus at 4:30pm/ after 16.5 hours ready to eat a ton of food and sleep.

The description of hike is broken down into its 5 parts ~ (1) the Western Valley; (2) the Northwestern Ridge; (3) the Main Peak; (4) the Dinosaur Ridge; and (5) the Central Valley.

The photos used in this guide are all mine and mostly from this trip, but for about 10km it was very foggy and to improve the quality of this guide I’m supplementing with photos from other hiking trips I took on these same sections.

(1) The Western Valley (0-11km)

In order to complete this course in a single day you need to start super early – ideally at midnight* or 1am. After departing Seoul at 9pm, we arrived in three tour buses at 11:50pm. Individually the people in the tour prepped their bags, did some stretches and started the hike.

*This starting point is the one exception to the 3am/4am start time rule in Seoraksan National Park.

The course starts out fairly gradual, with the first 8.2km of the trail being only ‘orange’ or intermediate difficulty. But during this 8km you will do the majority of the up hill climbing, reaching 1,210 meters when you arrive at Daeseungryeong (대승령).

Since you will likely be doing this trail in complete darkness, there isn’t much to see. But with that said its a very beautiful course, and one you might want to take family and friends. The first 2.7 km goes through Sipiseonnyoneotang river valley / 십이선녀탕계곡 which attracts non-hiker nature lovers each year in droves.

The sound of the river follows you up the trail, so you don’t have that dark quiet that can accompany some pre-dawn hikes.

(2) The Northwestern Ridge (11km-20km)

This is where it gets difficult but also breathe-takingly beautiful.

From 대승령/ Daeseungryeong the trail starts a steep descent and then rises again, leading to Keungamtubong peak / 큰감투봉. This 2.3km section of the trail is advanced, with the slippery small rocks. Its a section that you should considering taking your hiking sticks out to ensure your safety. It is here that the views start becoming visible.

From Keungamtubong peak / 큰감투봉 onwards, the nature of the hike changes completely, increasing in difficulty significantly through to 귀때기청봉 peak. While the trail is technically difficult with more rough trail conditions that include boulders, there is not a significant increase in elevation over the 3.7 km between the two peaks. The peak itself is nothing more than a distance tracker sign, but with 5 star views.

Where it becomes a true adventure is the 1km of boulder hopping you have to do to reach 한계령삼거리 (which is a Baekdudaegan check-in point).

I video chatted with my my mom to show her the views so I don’t have a ton of pictures to showcase this part of the mountain. But there are a number of people each weekend who come all the way out to Seoraksan l just to hike 귀때기청봉 peak, because of this boulder course. If thats of interest, the most common way to hike this peak is to start at 한계형휴게소 / Hangyeryeong Resting Place and to the hike as a there and back.

After the 3 way intersection there is another 5.4km until the turn off for the shelter (중청대피소). This section of the ridge has a fair bit of up-and-down hiking, but its only an advanced trail so its much easier than the boulder section I had just completed.

The last section before the shelter is the 0.6 turn off which is pretty flat trail that has you watching as the shelter gets closer and closer. In order to keep going with this course, you have to double back this section. But I enjoyed some time at the peak before doing that.

(3) The Main Peak (20-22km)

The peak is completely optional as it requires you to add on a net 1km, but since I came all this way I might as well do it. From the shelter its 0.5 km to the peak. Its a pretty steep rocky trail, but after everything I had endured so far it was a breeze.

Its decently common to drop your bags at the shelter and just take the short trip to get your photo with the peak stone. Although I joined the tour group alone and hiked solo – I felt it was safe to do the drop bag like everyone else and made the climb to get my pictures at the peak.

Back at the shelter I was able to purchase more water and relaxed on a bench with a proper meal (one of my self heating ramens!) I needed to prepare for what was to come.

(4) The Dinosaur Ridge (22-34km)

The first 0.6km after leaving the shelter heading toward 희운각대피소 / Huiungak Shelter is perhaps my favorite of section of the course.

The following 1.5km down hill to the shelter sucks and is ranked black / expert because it’s often damp and slippery, its steep and the rocks are very uneven. This section could be used for an advertisement as to why its advisable to buy and carry hiking poles. But there are a number of views along the course that make up for its danger.

I took my all-time favorite fall foliage photo in this section of the course.

Upon reaching the shelter, this is your best / only opportunity to bail out without having to alter your transportation schedule (see bail out for more details).

At this point of the article, my pictures turn into a mix of two different fall hikes because that seemingly perfect weather day had a turn to foggy, damp mess. I debated throwing them in here anyways, but they were objectively garbage. So enjoy peak fall season in Seoraksan.

All of the dinosaur ridge is considered expert and for good reason. Its very sun exposed (though not for me this day 🙁 … ) with tons of elevation change. I would describe the course as intense, technical and dangerous. Even after hiking it a couple time, it makes me constantly think “surely is almost over” but it just keeps going. While it makes you suffer, I can’t dispute that it’s likely South Korea’s most rewarding hike.

Starting the Dino ridge is a 1 kilometer climb to perhaps the dinosaur ridge’s best view point (which some people add on as a there and back to a standard peak hike trip, as it’s only a 2km extra).

I could describe each ascent and descent, but this hike it more rewarding when you don’t know what’s coming next. Instead here are some highlight images from two fall trips.

Around each bend is another view (and another incline), each more dramatic than the last.

Unfortunately, when I did this part of the course for the full ridge hike, I was a bit more miserable than the smiling girl in the photo (damp from the fog, exhausted & grumpy about the lack of views). But I would still recommend it!

The descent down to the valley is brutal on the knees. The course is made up of large rocks / boulders so there’s no good way to not land hard on your feet. This section is the one that routinely causes me the most pain and soreness the next day. I normally try to plan trips that have me taking this section in the opposite direction, but it can’t be helped (my legs hurt for two days after this particular trip).

(5) The Central Valley (34-36km)

After descending from Madeungryeong 3 way intersection / 마들령삼거리 , you come to Biseondae / 비선대 and the ‘hiking’ part of the day is over. Its 2.3km of walking along the river until you come to the main temple and then a following 0.7 until you reach the main entrance. This main entrance area has many coffee shops and restaurants – but most close by 5:30pm.

Overnight options: Staying on the Mountain

Along the course there are two shelters that you can stay in on the mountain, with the 중청대피소/Jungcheng Shelter being perfect for an overnight. Starting at 남교리/Namgyeori, it’s a fairly difficult 20km hike to reach the peak. 500meters from the peak is the Jungcheong Shelter, and if you book early, you can reserve your spot to be able to stay here overnight.

For more information about how to book your stay in a mountain shelter i have a step-by-step guide to the mountain shelter reservation process.

Accommodations: Staying in Sokcho

To do this trip right, I would recommend staying in Sokcho for two nights. This allows you to comfortably arrange the trip but also adds a nice beach element to this mountain adventure!

My ideal weekend trip for Sokcho is a Friday afternoon arrival, check in and relax before heading out for a Friday night start to the hike (12am-1am ). Then post hike, return to the hotel, relax / shower and have a great dinner on the beach. Then, a Sunday return to Seoul. It allows you to relax after hiking, and then not immediately jump into the 3-5 hour trip back to Seoul – which was brutal when I did it.

I’ve previously stayed with Blue Door Hostel, a cheap hostel by the beach. But if you are looking for something a little more comfortable I would recommend the beachside Ramada – letting you relax out of the beach after your post-hike shower!

For the most convenience, I would recommendation staying in a location with easy access to the park, either at the Kensington Hotel or the less expensive Smile Resort. Both of these options let you walk to and from the park, saving you from the hectic taxi ride to get to the

Bailing Out Early

• (Pink Arrow) This solution cuts out Dinosaur Ridge AND has the same end point: Instead of completing Dinosaur Ridge, at 희운각대피소/Heuungak Shelter turn right to go down the valley. It reduces your course only by 2-3km but drastically reduces the elevation gain/difficulty.

Even if you end up bailing out early there is no shame in that! You would have accomplished a great feat on a section of trail that most people have never seen. Not only that but the valley is gorgeous – so you are in for a special treat!

These are some summer shots of the valley on the way down from Seoraksan’s main peak.

Bailing out at the Peak:

From the peak, heading toward 희운각대피소/Heuungak Shelter, means the easiest course still has you taking on 10+km of non-easy hiking. If you are way behind schedule or are really not feeling confident when you arrive at the peak I would recommend the following:

• At the peak, go down the Oseak course to 남설악탐방지원센터/ South Seoraksan Exploration Center. This course is a steep 5km decline, but then you are done. It will take a faction as long.
• Plan Ahead: Book a night at the 중청대피소/Jungcheng Shelter as a back up just in case you struggle on the first 20km before the main peak. Check in is still 5pm, so it’s a back up plan that would require you to prepare extra supplies and be more flexible in your return date/time. But makes it so you don’t have to complete either the 5km Osaek course or the long valley course THAT day, instead allowing you to rest and take it on the following day.

Happy Trekking!

-Aurora