Seoraksan: Gwongeumseong

Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

If you remember- way back in October- Matt and I took a quick trip to Seoraksan for a little exploration. Since I am way behind on everything and I am still letting the blog slide- I thought I would share our experience with our mini hike to Gwongeumseong. 

We woke up bright and early and walked from our hotel (Hotel Seorak) to the main gate of the park (which was about a mile). There are buses that you can take, but the traffic was really bad so we thought it would be faster walking. 

We then hopped in line for our cable car passes. We were lucky and got on a cable car within 45 minutes of getting into the park. *The times for the cable cars are scheduled for about every 5 minutes. You buy a ticket for a certain time of the time. So if you want an early ticket time- get there early. The tickets do sell out.* 

Once you get to the cable car stop- there is a guest center with snacks and of course the views are pretty great. 

From here we could see the nearby city of Sokcho, which is where the intercity bus took us, and the East Sea. 

 You then have a mini hike to get to the Gwongeumseong. Once here, you can take pictures and walk around, or try your hand at climbing to the very top. 

I really didn't want to climb to the top. It looked a little sketchy and you had to use climbing ropes a little bit of the ways. So Matt went up by himself, and I stayed at the bottom. But then I kept seeing really old people make it up there, so I just went for it. I was really scared the whole way, but Matt was with me and helping me with each step. 

And I made it. I even bought a little medal to prove it. It was 10,000 Won well spent. 

From here you can see our hotel (the triangle looking one). 

Even though the park was really crowded because of the holiday weekend, we had a great time. The fall colors were so beautiful and the weather was great. There is plenty to see and do around the park. The park is huge. There are tons of hikes for you to do if you are into that. 

Basic Information: 

Location- Sokcho, Korea *Take an intercity bus for about $20 - then take a bus from Sokcho to the park 

Cost: Park admission- Adults 3,000 Won, Teens 1,000 Won, Elementary 500 Won 

Cable Car- 9,000 Won round trip *Children under 13 are FREE* 

Parking Fee: Between 2,000-9,000 Won depending on size of car

Click here for more information. 

*There are many hotels in Sokcho and a few hotels within Seoraksan. If you are not going during a busy time- I would recommend just staying in Sokcho. There are more restaurants around the area and the commute is less than 30 minutes.