Very pleasant Uiryeong-gil trail through Bukhansan 우이령길

The Uiryeong-gil (우이령길) trail goes from the north-west part of Bukhansan National Park following a valley south-east to Ui-dong. It’s also known as the Bukhansan Dulle-gil Trail 21 (북한산둘레길21구간), and 가을단풍길(우이령길). You’ll to make need a reservation for this route on account of the military installations along the trail. Do that at the Korean National Park Service (KPNS) reservation website.

For a change of pace, I decided to hike some of the lesser known (to me!) trails through and around Bukhansan Mountain. This is to explore more, and to enjoy the gentler trails that afford views of the peaks and valleys. This is also a nice way to find streams, parks, and other hidden gems. In addition, I’ll have knowledge of beautiful places to visit I can visit with people who don’t really get into the vertical hikes!

I first got wind of this trail after visiting Ui-dong a while back and noticing some stream-side restaurants serving pajeon and various soups. These stream-side places make very pleasant locations for eating and drinking.

I got to Uiryeong Obongsan Seokguram Entrance bus stop at around lunch time so I immediately went to a haejangguk restaurant, Yeomyeong Yangpyeong Haejangguk (여명양평해장국) for a tasty lunch.

The trail starts very gently and takes you through some housing areas that look like they could be army accommodation. The wall are painted with murals.

At the entrance to the trail, there is a guard post where it seems visitors need to register before walking through. This didn’t seem to be covid related so this is another clue that perhaps this is an army related area. The park ranger allowed me to go through after signing and registration document. Best check for future visits!

The trail then becomes wooded and follows a stream from up the side. There are a few view points along the way, and you start to see views of various peaks of the valley sides. There are other signs around that explain that this is a conversation area and some other details which I;ll need to translate.

Towards the end there are more things that point to this being a strategic area; there are tank traps along the way meaning this is probably a mountain pass that allows relatively easy access to Seoul from the north.