A glorious solo hike up Hallasan Mountain 한라산

DAY 3 OF MY SOLO, 6-DAY JEJU ROAD TRIP

I hiked up and over Hallasan, from the north (Gwaneumsa 관음사), to the east (Seongpanak 성판악). This was my second time to the top; last time however, we couldn’t see into the crater at the peak because of cloud cover! This time though, success!

Overview & getting started

I parked at the east entrance (Seongpanak), got a bus (281) to 산천단 한국폴리텍대학, crossed the road to catch another bus (475) going in the other direction from 닫기산천단 to 관음사 등산로입구. This drops you at the north trail entrance (Gwaneumsa Hiking Entrance). Actually, I lied; I was fortunate enough to see a taxi at the second bus stop, and once I flagged it down, I asked a guy waiting at the bus stop (who seemed like a hiker) if he’d like to jump in. We took it to the north entrance, split the fare and went our separate ways! After I’d hiked up and over to the eastern car park, I drove back to my hostel. If driving, beware; the car park at Seongpanak was getting close to full, even at 6 am; if I’d arrived any later, I’d have had to use street parking which could put you a kilometre or two from the entrance. When I was driving back to the hostel, there were a ton of cars parked up and down the entrance.

If you’re going by bus and want to start at Seongpanak, then you can get the 281 from Seogwipo or Jeju city. This bus runs north-south more or less. Another bus on that route is 182, but I didn’t use that. Here are links to the bus timetables: 281, 475. Here’s a link to the Jeju Bus website, where you can get all their timetables.

Timings

I started hiking at 7 and it took 4 h 40 m to get to the peak. It took another 3 h to get to the east exit. About 8 h 40 m all in, with an hour’s rest at the top.

Hiking!

The landscapes going up were breathtaking and the flora beautiful. On the way were colourful leaves, very few other hikers, a monorail train for supplying the shelters or bringing construction workers and supplies, a rather cool suspension bridge, and views of a big ridge face (Wanggwanbawi 왕관바위?). Lots to talk about really, and the photos as ever, never do the landscape any justice!

It was hard work but the weather was perfect. The top was incredibly crowded so I guess these hikers must have come up from the more popular eastern route. I spent an hour with my packed lunch at the top and even had a brief nap.

I headed south and east from the top, towards where I’d parked my car. I knew this was going to be long but also not too steep. I took fewer photos going down as much of it looks very similar, but that’s not to say, any less spectacular!