Inwang Mountain Trail

✨ About this walk

⛰️ Inwangsan is the hike I recommend to anyone who thinks Seoul is all neon. It is the granite peak right behind Gyeongbokgung palace, 338 m high, with the 600-year-old city wall climbing straight over the top. From the summit the palace is at your feet, with Namsan Tower, Lotte Tower and the Bukhansan ridge all around you.

Count on an hour up from Gyeongbokgung Station and an hour down through the forest shelter to the cafés of Seochon. It is a real hike, with cables and bare rock near the top, but you need nothing more than shoes with grip and a couple of bottles of water.

🚶 The route

1. Gyeongbokgung Station exit 1: west along Sajik-ro to the CU store at the fork, the last shop before the summit. Buy water here.
2. Past the Sajikdan altar wall onto Inwangsan Jarak-gil, an easy path past the Ungyeong House and the 1898 Hwanghakjeong archery pavilion.
3. The Tiger Statue marks the trail entrance, 1.4 km from the station. Turn left into steep stairs; after a few minutes the view opens and the city wall appears.
4. The viewpoint where the wall and Namsan Tower line up, then Beombawi (Tiger Rock), the photo spot and a famous night-view point. Many people turn around here.
5. The last 400 m to the summit: slippery granite with cables and a cliff section. From the top the whole of central Seoul lies below.
6. Descent: at the Gichabawi junction follow the Changuimun sign, not Gichabawi, then take the Suseongdong fork. The Forest Shelter, a converted guard post, steep boardwalk stairs to the Choso Bookshop café, and the Jarak-gil down to Suseongdong Valley and Seochon's Sejong Village Food Street.

💡 Good to know

• 🚇 Getting there: Gyeongbokgung Station (line 3), exit 1. A taxi to the Tiger Statue saves the first 20 min on the road.
• 🔦 Start about two hours before sunset to reach Beombawi as the lights come on, and carry a torch for the way down. Avoid rain and ice: the granite gets slippery.
• 💧 Nothing is sold between the CU and Choso Bookshop; take two bottles of water each.
• 🍜 Dinner in Seochon at the end: Seochon Gyedanjip for seasonal seafood, Naejadong Dakgalbi, Kimjin Moksam pork belly or Mokpo Sebal Nakji octopus, all pinned on the map.
• ✂️ Shorter option: climb only to Beombawi and come back the same way, about 1.5 hours.

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• #NightView
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• #Beombawi
• #KoreaTravel