Hwangjangsan hike info

Hwangjangsan is a Baekdudaegan peak hidden at the back of Dongro-myeon in Mungyeong, 1,078.9 m high, on the southeastern edge of Woraksan National Park. 'Hwangjang' was the old word for prized heart-yellow pine, the kind said to have been cut here for royal coffins.

The high point of the walk is Maetdeungbawi, just below the summit. You climb a boulder field to a rock step where an iron staircase clings to a steep face. From there to the top, a wooden boardwalk follows a narrow ridge with a drop on one side, barely wide enough for two people to pass. The summit itself is wrapped in forest with no view, so the scenery is all at Maetdeungbawi and the lookout.

During the autumn reservation season you can only enter on booked days, so the trail stays quiet. Most people start in Ansaengdal village and do a loop; fitter hikers string the ridge on to Beoljae or Jeosuryong. The descent runs down a long dry boulder valley that tires the knees before the climb does.

From Seoul (BUS)

From Busan, Daegu and elsewhere (BUS)

To the trailhead (LOC)