If you want a hike that is a Korean version of the Halfdome in Yosemite, you’ve to do the Baegundae Peak in Bukhansan National Park.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure if this would be a hard or easy hike but I am convinced that South Korea’s hiking trails are top class.

They make it so easy for you to hike the trails here from proper rest stops, cables, steel stairs and clear signage that I think everyone (even if you’re not a hiker) should explore the hiking trails in and around Seoul.

The Baegundae Peak on the Bukhansan trail is one of the most popular hiking trails leading up to Baegundae Peak which stands at 836.5m. In total the length is about 8.4km with an elevation gain of 745metres.

It should take you about 5-6 hours to complete the entire trek. I went in April and it was just at the time when the snow was melting.

How Do You Get To Bukhansan National Park?

hiking baegundae peak in bukhansan national park: me & some friends!

the glorious top of the peak - jagged mountains you don’t want to miss!

The most popular way to get here is to take the subway + bus. It will take you around 1 hour or so to get here.

Take Seoul Subway Line 3 (Orange Line) → Gupabal Station, Exit 1
From outside the exit, board Bus 704 (or Bus 34 or 8772) heading toward Bukhansanseong Fortress Entrance
Ride about 20–30 minutes, then walk 5 minutes to the park entrance

Make sure you’ve your T‑Money Card ready. You can top-up at any CU/7‑Eleven or subway stations. You could also buy it online before hand and collect it at the airport here!

Also please make sure you go hike this peak on a weekday — weekends are mad here and they have a cap of how many people can climb this peak!

🥾 If you don’t want to deal with the logistics of hiking here and you’re not entirely sure of doing this alone, I would recommend booking a guide here!

My Experience Hiking To Baegundae Peak

Before you hike this mountain, make sure you’ve the GPX routes saved on your phone. I used AllTrails here.

The first part of the hike you’ll see the information centre and a map of of all the different peaks you can attempt to do. Ofcourse everyone aims to go to the top which is at Baegundae Peak.

the list of mountain ranges in bukhansan national park

starting point of the hike to baegundae peak

The beginning part you pass through paved walkways and come across plenty of streams and mini waterfalls which seem fairly easy and more like a “walk” than a hike.

I even spotted an office worker in corporate shoes and a brief case on the path because… he hates his job? or maybe just seeking some respite.

The path changes and you come across a series of stony stairs and steel staircases.

After you cross the bridge there’ll be two paths for you to decide - the shorter one but steep path or the longer one and easy walk. We took the shorter route but one that was steep.

We continued climbing and from far we could some very icy patches on the rock. It was also fun to touch some snow — because I’ve not seen some in a long time coming from a tropical country.

In the distance, you’ll also see real climbers on the rock climbing one of the peaks. It definitely looked sketchy and felt like I was in Yosemite.

We continued further and this is where the part towards the last few hundred metres gets sketchy. Yes, there are cables but oh goodness if it is wet or slippery you don’t want to be climbing granite.

That incident of a girl dying on a granite surface in the US national park can very much happen here if there’s wet surfaces.

The view was mesmerising that I forgot about the dangers, and the terrain of the hiked. All I did was to not look back. You’ll need to haul yourself up and place all your balance on these metal railings.

If it was another country, I don’t think this hike would be doable but South Korea is so amazing in making it easy for anyone to hike this.

the top of baegundae peak in bukhansan national park

Reaching the top was surreal eventhough visibility was not so great because of the air pollution.

Still, this was such a cool way to see a different side of the city. Locals come fully kitted out with ramen, bibimbap and legit picnic setups at the top and you get amazing views of Seoul and sometimes the DMZ!

On Our Descent

hiking downhill - you’ve to be careful here!

After spending some time having my tuna gimbap rolls and taking in the views, we descended.

This was a flashback of all the climb we did — it was rather treacherous and slippery coming down. You’ll need to be 100% careful with your footing.

It doesn’t help that people are coming up the same way that at times it becomes pretty narrow.

I loved talking to Koreans (not all will talk to you!) — but on weekdays they seemed friendlier and open.

It was surreal to look at all these various rock formations and be awed by the number of peaks Seoul has that’s so close to the city.

There was a little rest stop and temple on our way down called Insuam. It looks amazing with Insubong peak rising in the background.

I overheard from others that on some days when there’s snow people often wear crampons when climbing Bukhansan mountain.

some healing spots on our descent - spotted elderly people painting here!

After reaching the bottom of the trail, we continued exiting the park by walking along these board walks near Buchimbawi Rock.

There are a lot of healing places in this entire stretch that I even saw locals forest bathing and painting in these spots.

It is near Deosinsa temple and it is the perfect place to explore after the hike. If you’ve completed the hike Bukahansan you must finish the walk in Samgaksan Doseonsa Temple, and walk down further to try some of the restaurants when heading down to UI station.

South Korea really thought of everything: even a vacuum station to suck off the mountain dust after your hike. I thought it was funny, maybe a little absurd, but honestly it was genius!

The perfect post-hiking meals at one of the restaurants down the road heading towards the station. You can get Korean pancakes and soft tofu with a bunch of veggies and meal.

Even if the scallion pancake wasn’t the best — somehow after this hike, everything tasted so damn good!

Would you do this hike? Tell me in the comments below!

Also read my other South Korea posts: