Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Nature
강릉시
At 1,100 m above sea level, the whole mountain is a cabbage field and the cabbage field is the mountain. Anbandegi Village in Wangsan-myeon, Gangneung, is the largest highland vegetable-growing area in Korea, carved out of steep slopes by…
Nature
경주시
In front of Dori Village in Seo-myeon, west of Gyeongju, ginkgo trees stand in dense rows, and in late autumn the whole grove turns yellow. It is neither natural forest nor a planned park: the trees were originally planted to be sold as sa…
Nature
경주시
East of central Gyeongju, below the old fortress walls of Myeonghwalsan, a tourist resort spreads around a large lake. Bomun Lake is the man-made lake at the heart of the Bomun Lake Resort, known for its lakeside loop path and spring cherr…
Nature
고창군
Halfway up Munsusan (621 m), on the border between Gochang and Jangseong, the last stretch of road to Munsusa Temple runs through a dense grove of centuries-old maples. The Munsusa Maple Forest holds about 500 maples estimated at 100 to 40…
Nature
광양시
On the southern slope of Baekgyesan in Gwangyang, a temple site with nothing left but foundation stones is ringed by more than 7,000 camellia trees. Tradition says they were planted by Doseon, the late-Silla monk famous for geomancy, to st…
Nature
괴산군
North of Songnisan National Park, in Cheongcheon-myeon, Goesan, Hwayang Gugok is a valley where clear water runs over broad white rock. Nine scenic bends follow one another upstream, each with its own name, and spotting the characters carv…
Nature
제주시
In Jeju, a forest that has grown over a jumble of cooled lava rocks, with trees and vines tangled together, is called a gotjawal. Gyorae Natural Recreation Forest was built right in the middle of one and is described as Korea's first recre…
Nature
서울특별시
Just off Cheonho-daero in Seoul's Gangdong district, behind a busy main road, lies a patch of woodland and wetland where fireflies still live. Gildong Ecological Park was designed for observing nature rather than strolling, so it caps dail…
Nature
가평군
Nami Island (Namiseom) is a half-moon-shaped island in the Bukhan River, criss-crossed by avenues of metasequoias, Korean pines and ginkgo trees. It was not originally an island but a riverside hill; it became one in 1944, when the Cheongp…
Nature
남해군
On the flat shoreline rocks of Gain-ri, on Changseondo island in Namhae, the footprints of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, birds and lizards that crossed a Cretaceous mudflat about 100 million years ago are still clearly visible. More than 1,500 di…
Nature
단양군
Dodamsambong is a group of three rock peaks rising from the middle of the Namhangang River in Danyang, North Chungcheong. Its scenery has long been ranked first among the Eight Views of Danyang, and it was designated a national Scenic Site…
Nature
단양군
On the bank of the Namjocheon stream (also called Ungyecheon) in Daegang-myeon, a sheer rock face about 70 m high stands like a folding screen. Sainam Rock, one of the Eight Scenic Views of Danyang, is split by such regular horizontal and…
Nature
대전광역시
Rising on Daedunsan and flowing through Daejeon into the Geumgang River, the Gapcheon Stream is the city's best-loved riverside promenade. The stretch in front of the Chungnam National University and KAIST campuses in particular has wide g…
Nature
대전광역시
Spanning the Geum River between Daejeon and Cheongju, Daecheong Dam supplies water to much of central Korea and created Daecheong Lake, where wooded hilltops float like islands. A look from the dam crest, the Water Culture Center and the o…
Nature
서울특별시
Right beside the Yangjae interchange on the Gyeongbu Expressway, at the southern gateway to Seoul, a dense forest fills the ground between the roads. Created ahead of the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Maeheon Citizen's Fore…
Nature
문경시
Beside a mountain road leading into the Hwasan-ri valley in Nongam-myeon, Mungyeong, a pine rises from a single root in six trunks and spreads like a huge umbrella. The Hwasan-ri Bansong Pine is a Natural Monument thought to be about 200 y…
Nature
밀양시
This is a valley where ice forms between the rocks in the middle of summer. Eoreumgol ("ice valley"), on the northern slopes of Cheonhwangsan (also called Jaeyaksan) in Sannae-myeon, Miryang, starts growing ice in its rock crevices in Marc…
Nature
보성군
At the edge of the fields in front of Jeonil-ri, a village in Hoecheon-myeon, Boseong, a line of centuries-old hackberry trees stands shoulder to shoulder. The Jeonil-ri Hackberry Grove is a village wood of 17 hackberries and one zelkova c…
Nature
보은군
In the middle of the road to Beopjusa Temple on Songnisan, a great pine leans its branches on iron props. Jeongipumsong is famous for a legend that a Joseon king gave it the second senior rank, the grade of a government minister. Estimated…
Nature
부안군
On a seaside hill behind the village of Mohang, at the southern tip of the Byeonsan Peninsula, about 50 Chinese holly trees grow together in a loose grove. This is the northernmost point where the warmth-loving species grows wild, which is…
Nature
서울특별시
In Gangbuk-gu, northern Seoul, Dream Forest (Buk-Seoul Kkumui Soop) was created on the site of an old amusement park called Dreamland. At about 660,000 m² it is one of the largest parks in Seoul, with cherry-blossom avenues, a maple forest…
Nature
구좌읍
Step into this forest in Gujwa-eup, eastern Jeju, and the canopy closes over you, formed by thick, twisted trunks with wide-spreading branches. Bijarim Forest (officially the Torreya Forest of Pyeongdae-ri) is a stand of thousands of centu…
Nature
제주시
In the mid-mountain belt on the eastern flank of Hallasan, at about 500–600 m above sea level, a path of red volcanic scoria runs for miles between tall cedars and cypresses. Saryeoni Forest Path stretches roughly 15 km from Bijarim-ro tow…
Nature
산청군
Hidden behind Bancheon-ri in Sicheon-myeon, on the eastern flank of Jirisan, Goundonggyegok Valley is named after the Silla scholar Choe Chi-won, whose pen name was Goun. Tradition says the scenery was fine enough for him to stay here on h…