Hiking & camping at Chiaksan 치악산 Korea

Me and a friend camped two nights at Guryong Campsite at Chiaksan National Park.

The hike

We left around 9 am and walked to Guryongsa temple. It’s an impressive temple complex with nice views of the mountains. We also passed a waterfall and lots of rocky streams and pools where people were hanging around and cooling off. We bumped into an otter, too, just sniffling around the trail, friendly as you like!

The hike took about 8 hours in total, much longer than we were anticipating. We needed plenty of water stops on the way up since it was pretty steep, with few flat sections.

The peak had great views all around with very few built up areas in sight, and hills and mountains visible far into the distance. There were also huge cairns at the top. We stayed for almost an hour I think, resting.

On the way back to camp, I felt I really needed a dip in the stream and waded into a place where we’d stopped on the way up. It was very nice. I think my shaky legs and feet appreciated it. I prettying much submerged myself in the rock pool. Gyegok (계곡), rocky, mountain gullies, became my new favourite thing this year.

After the hike, we were knackered And hungry, and stopped at an outdoor place overlooking the river for Korean food and booze.

The campsite

Guryong Campsite was pretty cool and I had reserved a spot right next to the stream entrance. It was nice sitting on the rocks in the stream with a cold beer. Showers were clean, communal, and 1,000 or 2,000 won.

The nearest convenience store was a ten-minute walk, and both nights we had beers at the tables in front. The place was home some very weird looking bugs.