Easy hiking near Seoul (Cheonggyesan/청계산)
After a rather embarrassing mishap of
missing our bus for a hiking weekend, I found myself stranded outside Jamsil
Sports Complex Station with a bag full of packed lunch & snacks (and an
extremely disappointed looking boyfriend). So sitting outside the station at
7:36 AM on a Saturday morning, I knew I had to think of a quick alternative
before it began to bring down our “FUN WEEKEND” mood.
Despite there being many many options for a
hike around Seoul, we had already done the ‘famous ones’ or the ones that
warranted a full day of rigorous hiking (and PACKED LUNCHES). Thankfully after looking at Naver Maps for
nearby hikes + blogs for trails, I found a nice alternative nearby Gwacheon
(below Yangjae/Gangnam)
Mt. Cheonggye’s peak called Maebong (매봉) and it is a relatively moderate and short hike to the
top. There’s couple of different routes you can take to get to the peak – and
they have you getting off at different stations, but we took the most straightforward
option of taking the 신분당선 (Shinbundang)
line after changing from Gangnam Station to 청계산입구 (Cheonggyesan). This starts you from 원터골 입구and takes around 1hour 20 min to the top (total of 3,000m)
When you exit the station, it’s only a 5 min walk (just follow the trail of Korean hikers) until you
reach the entrance, where you can spot a big map showing all the possible
routes. Although there are little
mini-maps throughout the hike, it’s really useful if you have stop to take a
photo and just have a reference of where you’d like to go/follow!
We started from the 원터골 입구 (Wontagol Entrance) and made our
way up to the peak . The day was painfully hot so despite
the hike not being that rigorous we found the first part of the hike a little
tough to bear. Despite that being said, this hike doesn’t have any sudden
inclines or declines so it was relatively easy to pace ourselves up to the top.
We made it to the top in 1-2 hours with mini breaks in between and grabbed
lunch near the top in the shades. Cheonggyesan actually had a lot of little
side areas with enough shades and space for a cozy lunch, which was a great
change from other popular mountains. They
even sold ice-cold makgeolli on the top but tragically neither of us had any cash and had to resort
to watching other hikers gulping down it down with the biggest smiles on their faces. The view from the peak is spectacular as you
can really see the whole of Seoul as well as the surrounding 경기도.
 |
| Posing at the Top of the Mountain! :D |
There’s a lot
more options available for the descent – you can either choose to go down via
Jindale Ridge and arrive at the same spot – or take a slight detour and finish up in Chonggyegol
Entrance, or do what we did and take a really long detour (for another 2-3
hours) going pass Oknyeobong (375m) down near 양재 station (Yangjae).
We somehow
finished up near by what looked like an industrial site – so next time maybe we’ll
take the more scenic *but shorter* route down the Jindale ridge instead!!
