Hiking Manisan, Ganghwado 마니산

Manisan is the main mountain on the island of Ganghwado (west of Seoul, north of Incheon). Gareth and I visited for a ridge hike to the peak and shrine, then headed back to get some nice Korean food. We finished with coffee at a coastal cafe called Talkraphy.

Getting in

I rented a SOCAR for the day and met Gareth at DMC Station. The drive in took under an hour. We parked up at Ganghwa Sand and Gallery Cafe 602 (강화샌드 & 갤러리카페602) for a coffee and bit of cake. There’s an art and craft type gallery on the second floor we sat at and also a roof terrace with views.

The hike

This was the end of the snowy season meaning there was still snow around, plus some wet muddy sections. We had our ice spikes packed for any troublesome spots. The hike took us westward through forest and dirt tracks and we got our first views around 30 minutes in. The Manisan is on the south part of Ganghwado. It’s a mostly flat island so you can see far over to Incheon to the south, and the large plains in to the north.

We got to the start of the ridge section at about 11:30. There’s a wooden safety rail going along most of the ridge. The sun had melted most of the snow, but in some shaded sections there was still ice to be wary of. We put on and took off our spikes a few times on this hike. The views south, north and along the ridge were really good. There were a few nervous moments on the ridge, but nothing that would stop the average walker.

Our destination was Manisan Chamseongdan (마니산참성단). This is a historical site, a shrine and altar, said to have been built by Dangun, the legendary founder of Gojoseon (read the Wikipedia article). There were quite a few people there when we arrived who must’ve hiked up from the north west side. We spent a while up there resting and taking photos before going back the way we came. You can of course hike on to the west coast but we didn’t have time to do that and come back in good time. Also, I’m not sure how frequent the buses on Ganghwado are. Maybe next time.

Food

We drove nearby to Manisan Sanchae (마니산산채 강화도본점), a little place in a hanok selling locally sourced vegetable dishes. We got in just before their break time and settled in for some tasty and healthy rice and vegetables with heaps of side dishes.