Hwaaksan (Jungbong) hike info

Hwaaksan is the highest mountain in Gyeonggi Province. Gapyeong's Buk-myeon and Hwacheon's Sanae-myeon meet along one ridge, and the 38th parallel crosses it too. But the real summit is off limits: a military base sits on top, so hikers walk up to Jungbong, about a kilometre away, look across at the fenced summit, and turn back.

Most people start at the Hwaak Tunnel. You drive up to the tunnel mouth, cross the Silunhyeon pass, and a forest path ends at an open grassy ridge on Jungbong. From there the view runs along the ridgeline toward Aegibong, Sudeoksan and Myeongjisan. Autumn turns the ridge yellow and red, and snow comes early in winter.

If you drop down the Hwacheon side you reach the Jomurak valley, where people soak their feet in midsummer. Because it is military land, parts of the route can be shut, so ask Hwacheon or Gapyeong county before you go.

From Seoul (BUS)

From Busan, Daegu and elsewhere (BUS)

To the trailhead (LOC)