Hiking Solo: Jirisan, Sicheon-myeon, South Korea

This was the last hike that I did in South Korea before moving away and I lucked out! It was a picture perfect day full of blue skies and nice dry trails full of friendly hikers. I started at 2 p.m. at the Jungsalli (Kalbawi) course trailhead in Jungsan-ri. Jungsan-ri of Sicheon-myeon in Sancheong is close to the highest summit of Jirisan Mountain and so you can climb to Cheonwangbong Peak from here in the shortest time.

A little information about Jirisan mountain is that it is the second largest mountain in South Korea and considered one of the holiest of two others, Hallasan mountain on Jeju island and Seoraksan in Sokcho. The hike can be done from various locations and needs a good amount of physical strength to traverse it. It is approximately 1,915m to the top of Cheonwangbong peak with an endless trail system continuing throughout the Jirisan National Park. Really can't stress how perfect the conditions were for this day hike.

Entering the park is pretty simple and straight forward and you can look forward to a good 3-4 hours of hiking in total with hard conditions, basically a lot of stairs with a vertical hike to the top. Of course with a camera its twice that, got to backtrack always! Come along a very peaceful hike and make sure to visit the Beopgyesa Temple on your way, beautiful endless views can be seen next to a statue that honors a female forest spirit. If you ever get a chance to do this hike, it is highly recommended. Its of the most hiked mountains in Korea and it speaks for itself.