Enjoy this 4.3-mile out-and-back trail near Dobong-gu, Seoul. Generally considered a challenging route. This is a very popular area for hiking, so you'll likely encounter other people while exploring. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime.
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Beautiful hike. Mostly shady with lots of trees until closer to the exposed peak. It is a series of either wooden stairs or rocky stairs going up in elevation. Past the first major viewpoint, a large rock with a view of the city, the hike turns into a scramble where you hold onto the rails and use your arms and hands to climb upward on rocky surfaces. There are plenty of rails to grab onto to the top. Well maintained hike. I didn't notice many bugs. My impression is that they must spray the area. As everyone has mentioned, moderate hike until last half mile where it becomes hard. Be sure to stop and look at the temple part way it has a nice view as well. Also, the way to the start of the trail is full of outdoor stores of almost any brand imaginable.
Did this hike on May 22, 2024 because the Bukhansanseong Course western entrance was closed that day. There are two temples (Gwangnyunsa and Cheonchuksa Temple) along this trail - do not skip these, they are so beautiful and serene! No entrance fee for the park and 2 bathrooms along the path (one in the beginning, one in the middle). Take the bus to Dobongsan Station 도봉산역 and walk uphill to the trailhead/park entrance. You will pass restaurants and hiking gear stores along the way. Grab a trail map from the ranger station at the trailhead. A lot of local hikers had done this trail before and helped me out along the way. The last stretch to the summit is steep and rocky - I was holding the guardrails the whole time. I brought gloves with grip which were helpful. Beautiful summit views of unique rock formations. A little hazy/cloudy but still magnificent. Packed myself a convenience store gun-goguma (roasted Korean sweet potato) and it was the perfect summit food. Bring sunglasses and/or a hat - trail got pretty sunny - and 1-2 L water. Trail took me 5 hours but I hiked slowly with a knee injury and spent a lot of time at the temples. Loved this hike!
Stunning! Incredible views the whole way once you’ve summited Dobongsan. Definitely the right direction to do it as hardest ascent first. Easy descent at the end. I didn’t go back down the way I came as the Dobongson Trail suggests, but instead decided to continue hiking onwards through the park to the Obong and Yeosenbong peaks, and down and out the other side of the park - an 11.5km trail in total. Click through to see my particular route here if that’s of interest. I ended up linking the Dobongsan Trail with the end of another route on here in order to go across the park, as I couldn’t see this as a route on AllTrails despite being possible & seen elsewhere online. Can highly recommend as a route :)
Well-maintained trail! It gets quite steep and rocky towards the peak but there are plenty of handrails to assist you. Two bathrooms to be found around the halfway point just before and at the temple. I found it wasn't too crowded on a Sunday morning with excellent weather. It's windy at the top so come prepared!
Amazing trail. Pretty hard tho, I did 99% of it and got a great view. However, the last bit to the very top was steep and smooth, and I didn’t have the proper shoes, so I didn’t go up. However, it was still amazing and definitely recommend it, just be prepared with hiking shoes and proper equipment.
well prepared trail, lots of steps, rocks to step on, secured by metal rails for support all the way to the top, which helps a lot while going up and down. it took me 2h 40’ to get to the top with slow pace and lots of breaks. doable for someone who is not fit, just bring along trekking shoes and water
It was rather easy except for the last 5 minutes to the top which was a little more difficult. Awesome views to the national park and Seoul. Only the first 30 minutes, there were some mosquitoes. On the top, it was windy and no bugs to be found. I finished it in 3.5 hours with stops for short rests and taking pictures. It was very beautiful and the change in the hiking path made it very interesting.
First third of the trail there were lots of bugs during this time of year. Second third very little bugs and then at the very top the most bugs. They seem to be female mosquitos since there are a lot of flowers up at the very top. So there is less worry about them biting you.
This is one of my favorite hikes in Korea. My route includes the "danger area" with rock climbing holding onto railings and rocks. There is a well-marked route around this section, but the regular trail still has some steep sections. It gets very crowded on weekends, so weekdays are better. The fall is the most beautiful time to go. Wear shoes with good tread to prevent slipping on the steep sections. Most Koreans wear gloves for gripping all the rocks and railings along the way.
Great hike. Correctly graded as hard. I recommend following the advice from other reviewers and bringing lots of water, and gloves for climbing. I took the bus to the trail entrance, arriving at 9 AM on a cloudy Sunday. It was not too crowded hiking up, but was extremely crowded coming down. Earlier the better.
