Hwawangsan hike info

Hwawangsan has no pointed top. You climb up and find an old stone fortress wall ringing a flat basin, and the whole basin is silver grass. At 757 m it is modest, but the views open in every direction and the Changnyeong plain lies below. Walking the wall once around is more or less the point of the mountain.

The best time is late October into early November, when the grass turns pale and lies in waves. In low evening light the whole basin glows white. Spring brings azaleas along the ridges, and in summer the meadow is simply green. Below the cliffs sits Gwanryongsa temple, and at the end of the ridge behind it a stone Buddha at Yongseondae looks out over the town.

Two routes are popular. The Jahagok side near town is short and steep; the Okcheon side passes Gwanryongsa and hugs rock cliffs. Many people go up one and come down the other.

From Seoul (BUS)

From Busan or Daegu (BUS)

Town to the trailhead (LOC)