Jaebibong (제비봉) is the king mountain of Instagram. There isn’t a better super easy hike that’s also a breathtakingly beautiful mountain in South Korea. Its beauty feels natural and ancient, with large mountains being carved away by a rolling river. But Jaebibong isn’t alone. In the same parking lot is a river cruise company and a pretty decent Korean restaurant. This is a place I come back to over and over. If you are only in Korea for a year this is should be on the top of your must go to list, even if you hate hiking. Bring the whole family and take photos you can cherish for a lifetime.
Jaebibong is the focus of this article but Woraksan National Park is what makes this whole region worth coming back to over and over again. In this guide, I will discuss Woraksan National Park generally, transportation options to Jaebibong, my experience here and an overview review of the two hikes, including Jaebibong, that are in this area. Danyang, the local town and my favorite weekend getaway spot has its own separate guide.
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(2) Oksunbong (옥순봉) & Gudambong (구담봉) Hike
(3) Transportation
(4) Accommodations: Staying in Danyang
Woraksan National Park – Northeastern vs Main Sections
This guide will be focused on the northeastern section of Woraksan National Park. While more people are familiar with the main section, seen below on the left hand side of the map, the northeastern section is beautiful in its own ways and worth a trip.
For those hikers among us who love the thrill of a large elevation gain, the main section of the park is famous for the Woraksan peak, Yeongbong (영봉) (1,094m), as well as a variety of additional courses. I would recommend you check out following guide here for some more intense hiking options.
As a resident without a car, I make my hiking decisions based on public transportation. Specifically the main difference of the two halves of Woraksan National Park is that the two section have different launching points. The main section is directly connected by bus to the small city Chungju-si (청주시) and/or the smaller local town Suanbo (수안보). While the northeastern section can be reached by bus from the resort town of Danyang (단양).
This section of the national park, aside from its difference in public transportation connectivity, also differs in geographic features. This section’s geography has the hikes directly overlooking the river that runs out from the Chungju Lake, while the Woraksan main hike, over looks the lake itself from a distance. Additionally, the erosion from the river has cut into the mountainous terrain, creating small cliffs and a dramatic view when hiking in the northeastern section of Woraksan.
Examples of views from northeastern Woraksan (left) vs. the main Woraksan hike (right) are featured below.
Jaebibong (제비봉 )
I consider this hike an ‘Instagram hike’. This hike isn’t particularly difficult. It’s only .6km – 1 km to get the best views. The main peak is on the Blackyak 100+ mountain hiking challenge which isn’t a challenge that is particularly popular to complete and its in the middle of ‘no-where Korea”, but it’s extremely popular. Specifically for its combination of a beautiful river landscape and steep stairs. I found out about this hike by following some Korean hiking hashtags and I had seen this view over and over again. I had to see it myself in person. I was thrilled to find out it was worth the effort in getting here.
I consider this hike short but fairly steep, with both stairs and ropes needing to be traversed to reach some of these beautiful views. I would recommend gloves for the ropes and a cute outfit for photos. Additionally, its completely sun exposed so a hat is helpful.
It’s perhaps the prettiest bottom 1km of a hike I’ve seen in Korea. This is a spot I would recommend packing a lunch or snack and watching the ferry boats float along the river.
As you can see, the distance between the start of the hike and this main view point is not significant, neither in elevation gain nor in distance. Depending on your pace you can get to this point in maybe 30 minutes.
It’s one of the only hikes I’ve done in Korea where I don’t recommend people going to the peak. The trail itself is only 2.3km to the peak, but after the first 1km you enter a wooded area and there are no longer views worth the effort, in my opinion. I had assumed that because the views had been great if I kept going they would get better, but the best was saved for the start.
The peak perhaps once had a view spectacular but it is now overgrown. But there are a couple smaller views that can be seen. I perhaps would have been more impressed by the peak’s view, if it was the only one I had seen that day.
If you decide to continue up the tree lined trail for the peak, there is a decent view at 700 meter before the peak.
It can be hiked as a thru hike but only one side has parking and a bus stop. So the vast majority of people just backtrack to their start point.
A T shaped trail with beautiful views on both ends: Oksunbong (옥순봉) & Gudambong (구담봉)
Starting the hike at the parking lot, the first 1.4km are a fairly flat half-paved, half-dirt path. I would describe it more like a walk than a hike. Then you come to a T-intersection with a peak on the end of both trails. The trails, one to Oksunbong (옥순봉) & Gudambong (구담봉), are relative short 0.9km and 0.6km respectively. But based on the need to back track these trails, the complete course is 5.8km total.
While the Oksunbong (옥순봉) course is longer, the Gudambong (구담봉) course has more elevation change. I found the later hike to be significantly more difficult but the views were worth the effort and significantly more impressive.
As can been seen in the image above, there are steep stairs leading to the peak with the river running on both sides of this rock formation. This section of the hike is very ridge like, which multiple rises and falls in the trail and sections which require scrambling over rocks. I found the trail to be engaging, but rather sun-exposed so a good hat and sunscreen regardless of the season is a must have. I completed this hike in February and walked away with a red face and arms thanks to all the sun.
I stopped at this peak for lunch and was able to take in the beautiful view of the river. As can be seen in the third image in the below Instagram post, there’s a look out platform that is perfect as a lunch spot.
If you happen to be interested in the self-heating lunch that I had here, I wrote an article about this product. I personally love it, and I bring it on all my hikes (super convenient and not an ad).
After doubling back along this trail, I returned to the T intersection turn off point and headed toward Oksunbong (옥순봉) . This trail is .9km and predominantly downhill. The view of the bridge can not be seen directly at the peak but is 15m to the left down a small trail. Along this same trail there are a number of spots to take a break, but I found the Gudambong (구담봉) views to be superior.
The section of the trail leading to Oksunbong (옥순봉), is mostly treelined which blocked out the view for most the route. This is contrasted by the exposed Gudambong (구담봉) route.
Personally, I found both peaks to be worth the trip, but if you only have time for one, I would without a doubt suggest hiking the Gudambng (구담봉) route.
Transportation: Getting to Danyang and the hikes
The town of Danyang can be reached from the western bus terminal in Seoul in about 2.5 hours or by train leaving from the Cheongryangri Station (청량리역) to the Danyang Station (단양역) in 1 hour 20 minutes, but requires and additional 20 minute bus ride from the station to downtown. While an extra hassle, the bus does comes regularly.
This section is composed of two smaller hiking courses; Jaebibong (제비봉) (721m) and the two peak course of Oksunbong (옥순봉) (286m) and Gudambong (구담봉) (330m). They are smaller both in the length of the course but also in elevation by a significant degree. These two hikes are not in connecting areas, rather they are separated by 1.8km of road, without a sidewalk but with room to walk along the street if done carefully. Both hikes have a parking area, so its convenient for those with vehicles.
The bus connecting Woraksan to Danyang are the 402-405 buses. The depart from various points in Danyang but start at the Danyang Bus terminal in the middle of town. There is only one bus stop relevant to the hike, which is front of the 제비봉 starting point (is pictured below). To reach the starting point of the 옥순봉 and 구담봉 area, walking is necessary as there is no bus stop nor is there a bus that heads in that direction (so there is no option to kindly ask for them to stop here). This means in order to do both hikes there is 1.8km there and 1.8km back of road walking that will be needed.
I have included the bus schedule for the 제비봉 to Danyang route (going back to your motel). As you can see, while there aren’t that frequent of buses, they are nicely spread out throughout the day so it makes for a flexibility in scheduling your day.
My experience with the hikes – What’s possible
I hiked both of the courses in the northeastern section in February of 2021. I was able to do them in one day with lots of time to spare. I caught the bus around 8am from Danyang and got off at the 제비봉 point. I was finished with the whole hike and lots of photo taking by 11:15amish. I managed to catch a ride with someone who was driving in the direction of the next starting point. I ate lunch at the 구담봉 peak, which is where I would recommend others eating as well. This hike as I will explain in further detail below, is a T shaped hike with the two peaks at the two ends. After lunch, I backtracked to the intersection point and then went to 옥순봉. I was done hiking by 2:30pm and I walked along the road back to the 제비봉 starting point/bus stop. With plenty of time to rest and walk around the ferry area before catching the 3:20pm bus back to Danyang.
There are buses that leave much sooner from Danyang and depart later from 제비봉, so regardless of your ability it’s possible to do both of these hikes in the same day.
Additionally, across the street from the bus stop is a ferry boat company that offers tours along the riversides. I would have done it but it happened to be an unusually hot day in February and by 2:30pm I had acquired a sunburn, so I decided to end my day at 3pm.
Accommodations: Staying in Danyang
While it’s possible to drive from Seoul to do a day trip – if you are replying on public transportation the most practical option is to stay in Danyang. I wrote a review of the cool stuff to see and do in Danyang (there perfect add on to a hiking adventure weekend).
There are a lot of accommodation options in town! I stayed in the Jungle Guesthouse and booked the single private room. It was cheap and secure in a great location – perfect spot as a solo-traveler option. But there are also a couple nicer places suitable for a family / couple.
Booking.comHappy Trekking
-Aurora
