Moaksan hike info

Moaksan is shared by three places, Jeonju, Gimje and Wanju. The name means mother mountain, and with its head poking up out of flat farmland you spot it from almost anywhere. It stays under 800 m, but everything around it is low, so from the top you look across the Honam plain and the Guri reservoir. The paths are a mix of earth trail and stone steps that beginners can handle.

At the Gimje foot sits Geumsansa, an old temple whose three-storey Maitreya hall, seen from below, is the mountain's signature view. On the Wanju side, the Gui tourist complex is the start of the climb past Daewonsa and Suwangsa to the top. Autumn colour spreads through the Geumsansa valley and azaleas redden the ridges in spring. On New Year's morning the summit fills with people waiting for sunrise.

Just below the summit the Mujebong lookout opens the view, and the last 200 m or so is a steeper rock stretch where you hold the railings. A radio tower stands on top, so the summit marker exists in two places. Afterwards many people head down for sanchae bibimbap and a bowl of makgeolli at the restaurants below.

From Seoul (BUS)

From Busan, Daegu and elsewhere (BUS)

To the trailhead (LOC)