Two National Parks down, 19 more to go! A few weekends ago, some friends and I hiked at Wolchulsan National Park. I’d done some research on Korean National Parks and realized that Wolchulsan was one of the closest to Gwangju. It also featured a cool looking suspension bridge that I wanted to see. Wolchulsan is found in the city of Yeongam which is a bit south of Gwangju. We caught an intercity bus that left Gwangju at 8:30 a.m. and arrived at Yeongam around 10:00 a.m. It probably would've been a bit shorter if we’d taken a more expensive bus as we wouldn’t have had as many stops, but the time was ideal so we went with that one.
After arriving at the bus station we were a bit confused on where to go. We had been with a lot of other hikers on the bus, but it seemed like they’d all disappeared when we’d arrived so there was no chance of asking for directions. After some confusion, we were able to find a walking route that would lead us to an entrance to the national park that was only about 15 minutes away. Once there, we got a map from the ranger station and tried to find the best way to the bridge. However, we couldn’t find the bridge on the map and the only trail we could see that started at the entrance we were at was the path to Cheonhwangbong, the peak of the national park. Since we didn’t have another option we decided we might as well go to the peak and then see how to get to the bridge from there.
The trail did not mess around. Right away we started our climb up through a wooded area, and the path went from dirt to rocks almost instantly. We soon had to use railings that were placed on either side of the trail to pull ourselves up the rocks. After about 20-30 minutes of some steep incline, we came to a clearing and were able to see just how much elevation we’d gained in that short time. The views were incredible! It was so rocky, yet green with all the trees, and it was unlike anything I’d ever seen.
The views only improved from there as did the steepness. Now the path was all rocks with frequent sets of very steep (and scary) stairs and the occasional aid of a rope so you could pull yourself up the rocks.I ’m starting to think this is how every hike in Korea will be like. We alternated between going up the stairs and then back down again; going down was 100% more terrifying. The good news was that we were out of the woods so we had an amazing 360 degree view of the mountains around us. The trail was now very narrow with drop offs on either side; we had to be careful where we put our feet. It was definitely not a good trail for anyone afraid of heights. Luckily, the trail wasn’t that crowded so we were able to go at our own pace and not have to worry about trying to squeeze by other hikers.
After about two hours of hiking we reached an intersection. From there, we could go up to the peak or to the bridge. We decided to continue on to the peak since we were making good time and we only had about .6 km left to go. On our way back, we’d go the opposite direction towards the bridge.
Although we only had .6 km to go, it took us a while. It was killer. Steep stairs, no breaks, and a lot of elevation gained in a very short amount of time, but it made the views at the top much more worth it.
We finally made it to the top of the peak around 12:40 p.m. The peak was a rock that claimed to be able to fit 300 people on it; there were probably at least 50 people on the rock when we were there and there was still space so I think that statement was probably true. The peak's elavation was 809 meters which is about 2,654 feet. We sat up there for a while and enjoyed our lunch of sandwiches and snacks. Looking around, I was amazed to see the abundance of food that other hikers had brought; it seemed as though they were eating three course meals! We definitely need to step up our lunch game if we’re wanting to fit into the hiking scene here.
After resting at the top for a while, we began our descent towards the Cloud Bridge. It was much easier, at least physically to go down, but mentally it was a bit scarier. It was just straight down on rocks and you had to pay attention the entire time in case you misstepped. However, on the way down we saw my favorite view of the hike: giant mountains that looked like they belonged on a computer backdrop. It felt surreal. We were also able to see the Cloud Bridge from that vantage point so we knew we were close.
When we arrived at the Cloud Bridge, there was almost no one else there which was really nice. It was shorter across than I thought it would be and it didn’t sway as much as I imagined it would; both of these were good things. The bridge was bright orange and stood out against the mountains behind it. I’ve never experienced anything like that on a hike before.
From the Cloud Bridge it was another 2 km to another entrance of the park. The way down continued to be rocky, but we eventually finished the hike around 3:30. We caught a taxi back to the bus station and then got on the first bus back to Gwangju. We were back home around 7 p.m. making it an all day hiking adventure.
It was an amazing hike and the scenery was unlike anything I’d seen before. It was probably one of the coolest hikes I’ve done and I would highly encourage anyone who has the chance to hike there to do so.
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