Yeongsil Trail, Hallasan

The Yeongsil Trail on the south-western side of Hallasan is one of the mountain's shorter routes, and it is widely considered the most scenic. It starts high, at Yeongsil Rest Area at about 1,280 m above sea level, and soon brings you face to face with Yeongsil Giam, a wall of cliffs and rock pillars. Higher up, the path crosses the open highland of Seonjakjiwat to Witse-oreum. You will not reach the summit crater, but you will see the high country of Hallasan at its best.

The route at a glance

The trail runs 5.8 km from Yeongsil Rest Area past Witse-oreum to the Nambyeok Junction below the south face of the Baengnokdam crater. Official timings are about 1 hour 30 minutes to Witse-oreum and about 2 hours 30 minutes to Nambyeok Junction, one way. After an initial stretch of forest, a steep section of steps climbs to the ridge, where the path turns into a gentle boardwalk across the plateau. The hard part is short, so many families hike it with children. Note that the Yeongsil Trail does not lead to the summit: Baengnokdam can only be reached via the Seongpanak and Gwaneumsa trails, which require advance booking.

Yeongsil Giam and the Five Hundred Arhats

Halfway up the climb, the cliffs across the valley are Yeongsil Giam. South-west of Baengnokdam, at around 1,600 m, vertical rock walls some 250 m high form an amphitheatre topped by stone pillars. The name Yeongsil ("spirit chamber") comes from the resemblance to Vulture Peak, where the Buddha preached. The screen-like cliff is called Byeongpung-bawi ("folding-screen rock"), and the crowd of pillars is known as the Obaek Nahan, the Five Hundred Arhats listening to a sermon, or the Obaek Janggun, the Five Hundred Generals. Sources differ on the count: some speak of 500-odd pillars, others of around 1,200.

Byeongpung-bawi is made of well-formed columnar joints one to two metres across, the remains of Hallasan trachyte shaped by long weathering and erosion. The trachyte here spreads over an oval roughly 1.5 km north to south and 1 km east to west, so the whole valley head looks like a vast stone amphitheatre. The area was designated a national Scenic Site in 2011 as "Yeongsil Giam and Obaek Nahan of Hallasan", and it is No. 9 of the Twelve Scenic Views of Yeongju, the classic list of Jeju landscapes. On misty days, cloud drifts up the valley and the pillars appear and vanish again, a very different scene from a clear day.

From forest to highland

The lower valley is wooded with broadleaf trees, and near the start of the trail grows a forest of red-barked pine, distinct from the black pines of the coast and known locally as "hwangsong". Further up, Jeju dwarf bamboo carpets the ground, and near the ridge you meet alpine plants such as Korean fir, Korean mountain ash and crowberry. Beyond the treeline lies Seonjakjiwat, a highland plateau at about 1,700 m south of Witse-oreum. In spring it turns pink, first with hairy azaleas and then with royal azaleas, which usually peak in late May to early June, depending on the year.

Witse-oreum and Nambyeok Junction

Crossing the plateau you reach Witse-oreum, "the three upper oreum", the collective name for three small volcanic cones standing side by side. It is the meeting point of the Yeongsil, Eorimok and Donnaeko trails, so many hikers climb from Yeongsil and descend via Eorimok; if you do, plan your bus times or how to get back to your car, since you finish somewhere else. Continue east from Witse-oreum to Nambyeok Junction, where the southern rock wall surrounding the Baengnokdam crater looms close by. It is the nearest you get to the summit on this route. The name Seonjakjiwat is also worth knowing: it is usually explained as a stony, gravelly field, and indeed boulders large and small are scattered across the grassland.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: about 3 hours for the round trip to Witse-oreum, about 5 hours to Nambyeok Junction and back.
• Trail hours: in the winter season (1 October to 31 March) you can start from 05:00, and entry at Yeongsil closes at 12:00 noon. You must start descending from Nambyeok Junction by 14:00 and from Witse-oreum by 15:00. In summer, entry closes later, at 15:00.
• Booking: the park lists advance booking as mandatory only for the Seongpanak and Gwaneumsa trails. Trails can be closed in bad weather, so check the real-time trail status on the Hallasan National Park website before you set out.
• Getting there: bus 240 from Jeju Bus Terminal reaches the Yeongsil Ticket Office in a little over an hour. From there it is about 2.4 km uphill along the road to the rest area where the trail begins, another 30–40 minutes on foot; cars can drive up to the rest area. In some winters a seasonal bus 1100 has run between Jeju Bus Terminal and the ticket office from December to February, so check whether it is operating.
• What to bring: weather on the upper slopes changes fast and fog is common. Pack a windproof jacket, spare layers, plenty of water and snacks, and in winter crampons and warm gear are essential.