Whether it be the three-day two-night Jirisan hike or a desire to try something new, staying in a shelter in one of South Korea’s premier national parks can be a fun and affordable adventure. These shelters are designed for hikers, so they are very practical without too many amenities, located in the middle of four national parks.
In the following guide, I will cover the locations of all the shelters you can book as well as a detailed account of the process.
If you are interested in a review of the quality of the shelters and my experience staying in the Jirisan shelters for the 3-day 2-night course, you can check out my Jirisan Guide.
Jump to -> Shelter Reservation Process
Jump to -> The KNPS Reservation Website
Jump to -> My Jirisan Shelter Experience
Article updated in June 2023
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Shelters
- 4 National Parks have shelter(s) that you are able to reserve for a small fee (12,000 won)
- Shelters are gender segregated and are bigger rooms with heated floors in the winter.
- Bathrooms, shoe muck room, cooking areas + charging outlets
- Can rent blanket and purchase rice, water, coffee (sometimes), etc.
Jirisan National Park
- 벽소령대피소/ Byeoksoryeong Shelter
- 세석대피소/Saeseok Shelter
- 장터목대피소/Jangteomok Shelter
- 로타리대피소/ Rotari Shelter
- 치밭목대피소/ Chibanmok Shelter
- 연하천대피소/ Yeonhacheon Shelter
Seoraksan National Park
- 수렴동대피소/Suryeomdong Shelter
- 중청대피소/ Jungcheong Shelter
- 양폭대피소/ Yangpok Shelter
Deokyusan National Park
- 삿갓재대피소/ Satgatjae Shelter
Sobaeksan National Park
- 제2연화봉대피소/Je2Yeonhwabong Shelter
Booking a Shelter
- 12,000원 per person, per night
- Payment is made in person, and they accept card. At some shelters they only accept cards.
- The KNPS Reservation Website
- Max 5 people can be booked with one reservation
- Make sure to print out or have a screenshot of your reservation to show it when checking in
Part 1: Making an Account
It’s a fairly standard process, with the only thing of note being that there is an identity requirement. This means that only residents of Korea with an active cellphone number or Identification are able to make an account. Making this process inaccessible for people simply visiting Korea.
Part 2: Selecting a Shelter & Date
- Click “대피소” to select Shelters
- Select a National Park
- Select a Shelter
- Select a Date
- Click ‘추가’ to add it
- Click “다음단계” to confirm and go to the next stage
- If there are no available rooms an error will come up after clicking next. You can try again with the waitlist option by clicking the bubble “대기가능 대피소”. Not all shelters have this option.
- You can stay book 2 shelters at once and 3 shelters for hiking the Jirisan ridge. To book multiple, after clicking “추가” you can select another shelter and date, add that as well and then click next. If one or more of the shelters are not available there will be no error message, instead it will just not show up on the following screen after clicking next.
Part 3: Reserving
- Select number of people (5 max)
- Click Reserve
- Have a great trip!
Happy Trekking!
-Aurora
do you know if there is any way to do this as a visitor?
The KNPS is currently beta testing an English/Foreigner friendly version of the page, whether it will be ACTUALLY friendly to visiting foreigners has yet to be seen. The best you can do is work to have someone arrange it for you.
Hi, do you know if foreigners are allowed to booked the Jungcheong Shelter? I went to the KNPS website it wasnt shown in the reservation list. Is it its based on first-come-first serve on that day ?
Foreigners can reserve there yes, but you need a Korean phone number that’s registered to you with a Korean ID. It’s first come first serve yes, but it’s online with the dates becoming available to book 2 weeks early. So not the day of, unless there happens to still be spots available. I don’t know anything about in person non-reservation first come first serve. Only online as far as I know