Chuwolsan hike info

Chuwolsan is a rock wall standing over Damyang Lake like a folding screen. At 731 m it is not tall, but the lake side is nearly cliff, so from the car park it looks much bigger. Boriam hermitage clings halfway up that cliff. Getting there means more than a thousand steps, and at the top the lake and the plain lie spread out below.

Autumn is the season. Maples grow thickly under the rock crown, and the cliff turns red from late October into early November. Locals count it among the best mountains in Jeonnam, so on foliage weekends the car park fills early. The mountain sits on the Honam ridge line, so from the summit the crest runs west toward Baegyangsan and Naejangsan, while Mudeungsan shows beyond the Damyang plain to the south.

The routes are simple. The standard day goes from the car park past Boriam to the summit and back. On tired-leg days the Yongmaru-gil shoreline loop alone fills a morning.

From Seoul (BUS)

From Busan, Daegu and elsewhere (BUS)

To the trailhead (LOC)