Gyejoksan

Gyejoksan in Daejeon's Daedeok District is only a little over 400 m high, but it is famous for a 14.5 km barefoot walking trail laid with red clay along its forest roads. Along the summit ridge runs Gyejoksanseong, a stone fortress from the Three Kingdoms period, so you can combine a barefoot walk, a fortress visit and views over Daejeon in one day.

A mountain shaped like a chicken's foot

Gyejok (鷄足) means "chicken's foot", after the way the ridges splay out like a bird's toes; people also used to call it Chicken-Foot Mountain. One story says the name was borrowed from the chicken, the natural enemy of the centipedes that once swarmed around today's Songchon; another says the hill was called Bonghwangsan because its outline resembles a phoenix. Sources give its height as 420 m or 429 m. The Gyeongbu Expressway runs below, and the mountain looks down on the Hoedeok and Songchon districts.

The Gyejoksan red clay trail

Starting from the Jangdong recreational forest, the red clay trail follows the forest road around the mountain for a total of 14.5 km. A Daejeon soju company began laying the clay in 2006 and has looked after it for years. Word spread about the experience of walking barefoot through the forest on soft clay, and it became Daejeon's best-known walk.

• Forest square: the starting point, with displays and artworks about how the trail was made, plus a foot-washing area, toilets, a water play area, a playground and pavilions.
• Weekend programme: classical concerts in the forest, photo exhibitions and barefoot prints in the clay.
• Barefoot festival: in May 2026 the barefoot festival returned after seven years, complete with a barefoot marathon.

Gyejoksanseong Fortress

A stone fortress wraps around the summit ridge like a headband. Its walls are 1,037 m long, the north wall stands about 9.4 m high, and there were gates on the east, west and south sides. It is a national historic site. It was long thought to be a Baekje fortress, but excavations in 1998–1999 found mid-to-late 6th-century Silla pottery as the oldest finds, leading some to argue that Silla built it. When it was first surveyed only about 350 m of wall was well preserved; restoration since then means you can now walk along rebuilt walls and gate sites. From the ramparts the city of Daejeon spreads out below, and the Bonghwangjeong pavilion near the top looks over the southern part of the city.

Tripto tips

• Barefoot know-how: just after rain the clay is soft and slippery. You can wash your feet at the foot-washing area afterwards, but bring your own towel, and a small bag for your shoes makes things easier.
• Opening: open at all times, free. For information contact the Daedeok District parks and green spaces team (+82-42-608-5163).
• Time needed: 1–2 hours for part of the clay trail, 2–3 hours if you climb to the fortress, more than half a day for the whole trail.
• Check for closures: restoration work sometimes closes the inside of the fortress or some paths, so look at Daedeok District's notices before you go.
• When to go: May to October is best for walking barefoot; in autumn you get the colours as well.
• Getting there: start from the car park at the entrance to the Jangdong recreational forest, which is close to both the clay trail and the fortress. Bus routes and frequencies change often, so search for "Jangdong Sallimyokjang" in a map app.
• Combine it with: Dongchundang, a Joseon-era pavilion house in Hoedeok at the foot of the mountain, for a half-day in north-eastern Daejeon.