Naeyeonsan and Juwangsan have been on my hiking list for a while, so I was pretty excited. The plan was to hike a well known trail that features a lot of waterfalls, get some lunch, then drive to Juwangsan National Park Campsite to set up for a longer hike the next day.

DAY 2 OF 3-DAY ROAD TRIP

I had a brief breakfast at the G Hotel then left to my first mountain stop. Driving into Naeyeonsan national park was very pleasant, especially arriving around 10 am. The weather was cloudy with spots of sun. I had a coffee at a GS25. The Naeyeonsan 12 waterfalls trail starts at Bogyeongsa temple (보경사) and there’s an entrance fee. You walk past a few restaurants and accommodation places before heading onto the trail. The trail itself is clear and mostly even. You follow the river on your left and it soon get’s very picturesque. The water was so clear and the waterfalls start coming a-plenty. I managed to soak one of my feet by slipping on a mossy rock, so switched to alternative shoes to let it dry on my pack.

There are twelve main sets of fall on this trail but I didn’t do the full walk, just up to one on the main features with something called a sky or cloud bridge. Here the falls were very powerful and the whole area an amazing place. This is where I’d have my lunch. I walked a bit further on but not much as I needed to head back to the car. This trail will take you through the valley and to the other side. There are of course trails to the peaks but I’ll save those for another day.

Back at the car, I opted to skip lunch and go straight to the campsite which was about 40 minutes drive. At Sangui campsite I asked to switch camp spots because mine was right in the sunlight without any shade. The staff kindly phoned to HQ to check this was okay and I was able to move a few spots across. This spot was closer to the shower rooms though, so sensitive me noticed the humming sound of something. It was fine in the end though. I got set up then wandered around the area. There were lots of restaurants and a few coffee shops. I saw some interesting looking apple makgeolli to try later. I didn’t pass a restaurant I was ‘feeling’ at that moment though and decided to eat a salad from my supplies, plus a beer and watch something I’d downloaded. There was a camping couple who were playing a movie really loudly and I guess someone had complained. A ranger came over to ask them to turn it down and the guy just flipped out and started screaming at the poor staffer. Then another camper (also wanting them to turn it down) got involved and there was more shouting… Classy …

Most annoying however was the fact that I’d pulled a muscle in my neck a weekend or two ago and it was hard to get comfortable, either driving, walking, or on the ground. The pain had already made my earlier hike a bit painful and was probably the reason I didn’t walk on more. Finding a comfy position to sleep was almost impossible and I had the bare minimum for bedding (I’d packed my camping gear into a suitcase and gone by train. It was mostly a sleepless night but fortunately I was functional in the morning and ready for my next hike.

Places visited this trip (click the ‘door’ icon to see a list):