Baekamsan hike info

Baekamsan is only 741 m high, yet it fills up every autumn, and the reason is Baegyangsa temple. For about 1.5 km from the ticket gate to the temple, oaks and maples arch over the road like a tunnel, and the pavilion Ssanggyeru drops its reflection into the pond out front. Plenty of visitors come for that scene and never climb.

The mountain proper feels different. The Yaksudong valley path past Yaksaam and Yeongcheonam turns early, and above it Hakbawi, the white cliff beneath Baekhakbong, stands like a folding screen. Over 1,600 steps lead up to it, and you will feel each one. The summit, Sangwangbong, sits on the Jeonnam-Jeonbuk border, so one step takes you across provinces.

Azaleas fill the slopes in spring and small maples in autumn. Snowy days are lovely too, but the stairs and rock slabs get slick and you need crampons.

From Seoul (KTX)

From Busan, Daegu and elsewhere (BUS)

To the trailhead (LOC)