Jwagusan Recreational Forest

Jwagusan Recreational Forest in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong, is where you can spend a night in a forest cabin and then look at the stars through Korea's largest refracting telescope, a 356 mm instrument. By day you cross the 230 m Meditation Cloud Bridge, slung 50 m above a deep gorge; after dark you head up to the observatory above the forest. Forest and stars in one place make it a favourite with families.

The mountain of the sitting turtle

Jwagusan means "sitting turtle mountain", after its shape. In Korea the turtle stands for good fortune and long life, so even the name suggests a place to slow down. At 657 m it is the highest peak around Cheongju and Jeungpyeong, rising on the Hannamgeumbuk ridge that crosses inland North Chungcheong.

The recreational forest opened in July 2009. It has forest cabins, a lodge and a campsite, with room for up to 155 guests a day. The forest, the observatory and the leisure facilities are run together as "Jwagusan Recreation Land".

What to see

• Jwagusan Observatory: home to Korea's largest refractor, the 356 mm telescope. With little light pollution, about 1,500 stars down to 5th magnitude can be counted on a clear night. Visits are guided tours of around 90 minutes: a planetarium show, the SPACELAB space exhibition and then the telescopes. Daytime sessions observe the sun.
• Meditation Cloud Bridge: opened on 1 July 2017. Of its 230 m, 130 m is a swaying suspension section, and it is 2 m wide. The name means a bridge for meditating on the view around you, and crossing is free.
• Leisure facilities: a zipline, a snow-sledding slope and a forest adventure course, all big hits with children.
• Forest programmes: the forest meditation house runs forest therapy, guided forest walks, nature play for young children and crafts with natural materials.

Tripto tips

• Observatory hours: April–October 10:00–22:00 (last entry 20:30); November–March 10:00–21:00 (last entry 19:30). Closed Mondays (the following day if Monday is a public holiday), 1 January, and the Seollal and Chuseok holidays.
• Observatory tickets: individual adults KRW 5,000, children and teenagers aged 7 and over KRW 4,000, children aged 4 and over KRW 1,000. Visitors aged 65 and over go free.
• Booking: the observatory works on advance online booking; if seats remain you can buy tickets on site. Children under 4 cannot enter the planetarium, and on cloudy nights observation is replaced by a talk on the night sky.
• Bridge hours: 09:00–19:00 in summer and 09:00–18:00 in winter. It closes in rain, strong wind or snow.
• Staying overnight: forest cabins check in at 15:00 and out at 12:00; the campsite checks in at 13:00 and out at 11:00. Book through "Supnadeul-e" (foresttrip.go.kr), Korea's public recreational forest booking site.
• Getting there: leave the Jungbu Expressway at Jeungpyeong IC and follow signs via Jeungcheon and Yul-ri junctions. The approach from the Miwon side includes an unpaved road, so come up through Yul-ri village.
• Planning the day: arrive in the afternoon, cross the bridge and walk the forest trails, then book an observatory session around sunset.