Chuncheon Samaksan Lake Cable Car

This cable car runs 3.61 km from Samcheon-dong in Chuncheon across Uiamho Lake to the ridge of Samaksan Mountain. It is the longest cable car in Korea: after a long crossing over the water it climbs onto the rocky mountain, so you see lake, peaks and the city of Chuncheon in a single ride. It opened in 2021, and the glass-floored skywalk at the top station is a sight in its own right.

Across the lake and up the mountain

From the lower Uiamho Station, the cabins first glide low over the broad lake. After passing a pylon standing in the water, the line steepens and climbs over the Samaksan forest; look back and the lake, the city and the surrounding ranges unfold one after another. At the top you arrive at Samaksan Station. The cable car buildings were designed after the shapes of a bow and a boomerang.

Cabins and sights

• Cabins: 66 Doppelmayr cabins from Austria run on the line, 20 of them crystal cabins with a transparent floor. Cabins are shared with other groups.
• Skywalk observatory: the platform at the top station is 52 m long and 35 m high, with a glass floor you can look straight through.
• Deck trail: an 822 m return forest walk of about 25 minutes, with views of the city and the lake from several angles.
• Facilities: Uiamho Station has restaurants, a convenience store, a café and a souvenir shop; Samaksan Station has a café.

Not a hiking shortcut

The upper walkway is not connected to the hiking trails. You cannot ride up and walk on to the summit (Yonghwabong, 654 m), nor hike up and ride down. If you want the summit, start a separate hike from the Uiam ticket office or from the Deungseon Falls entrance on the Gangchon side.

The lake city from above

Uiamho, the lake the cable car crosses, was formed when Uiam Dam was built on the Bukhangang River in 1967. Chuncheon is known as the "lake city" because it is ringed by Uiamho, Chuncheonho and Soyangho, and nothing explains that landscape better than this ride. From the upper viewpoint you see like a map how the river winds between the mountains to become lakes and how the city spreads along their shores. On late-autumn and winter mornings, mist often rises off the water and changes the scene entirely.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: May to October, Sunday to Friday 09:00–20:00, Saturdays until 21:00. In March–April and November it closes an hour earlier (19:00 Sun–Fri, 20:00 Sat); December to February at 18:00 Sun–Fri and 19:00 on Saturdays. Ticket sales end one hour before closing.
• Skywalk hours: it opens at 09:30, half an hour after the cable car, and closes earlier (for example 19:00 Sun–Fri from May to October). It shuts in bad weather.
• Fares (return): standard cabin adults KRW 24,000, children KRW 18,000; crystal cabin adults KRW 28,000, children KRW 22,000. Children's fares apply from 36 months to the end of primary school. Booking on the website by the day before gives a discount.
• Closures: maintenance closure days are announced month by month, so check the notices on the website before you go.
• Getting there: city bus 16 runs every 30 minutes: about 50 minutes from Chuncheon Station (exit 1), about 30 minutes from Namchuncheon Station (exit 2) and about 20 minutes from Chuncheon Intercity Bus Terminal. Bus 6 also stops here, but only every two hours. The address is 245 Sports Town-gil, Chuncheon.
• Time needed: allow 1.5–2 hours for the return ride, the skywalk and the deck trail.
• Watch out for: dogs, pushchairs and wheelchairs are not allowed on the skywalk trail, and neither is food. Standard wheelchairs can be borrowed for the cable car itself.
• Best time: late October, when Samaksan's foliage turns, and late-autumn mornings, when mist rises off the lake.