Woraksan hike info

Woraksan stands 1,095 m, but it looks bigger than that. From Chungju Lake the summit, Yeongbong, stabs the sky as one round block of rock, and the Songgye valley runs about seven kilometres below it, loud with water. The name is said to come from the moon hanging on this peak.

Up the Deokju valley sits the site of Deokjusa, said to be where Princess Deokju stopped on her way to the Diamond Mountains after the fall of Silla. Above it, a 13 m Buddha is carved into the cliff. From there the stairs start, and just under the top you climb an iron ladder. In autumn the colour creeps up from the base of the rock, and on a clear day the summit looks over the whole of Chungju Lake.

There are three main ways up: the Deokjusa side, the Songgye side from Dongchang Bridge, and the Bodeokam side on the far flank. Deokjusa is the busiest. The Bodeokam ridge, over Habong and Jungbong, is the scenic and rougher one. Parts of the mountain close for fire prevention or rest years, so check with the park office first.

From Seoul (BUS)

From Busan, Daegu and elsewhere (BUS)

To the trailhead (LOC)