[This page is being written and updated as I complete parts of the trail, hence the incomplete links]
This is a 157 km trail running around the outskirts of Seoul consisting of a variety of paths. From mountains to city streets, it has it all! It’s very well managed and there are plenty of signs to help you navigate it. You can also collect ink stamps from bright red booths along the trail to put in a stamp book. It’s called the Seoul Trail, the Seoul Dullegil (Dulle-gil) or 서울둘레길 2.0. The text link on the left goes to English language details of the new version of the trail and you can easily find the Korean version from there.
There are a total of 21 connected courses, routes, or sections, and I started doing it in September 2024. They vary in landscape and difficulty. Originally, the Seoul Trail was divided into just eight sections, but each of those sections has now been broken up and renumbered. I guess this is to make the sections more doable in one go, perhaps increasing the motivation for people to take it on. The original Route 1, for example, was almost 20 km! Now it is divided into Routes 1, 2, and 3. This is important to know for when you pick up a stamp book; you need to look out for booklets and stamp cards titled 서울둘레길 2.0 (pictured above) and ignore the other ones. The older stamp book system will cease to be in March 2025. That said, the actual routes are the same (I think). Get booklets and stamp cards at the following locations:
Distributor | Contact |
---|---|
Seoul Citizens Hall (B1, Seoul City Hall) | +82-2-739-7733 |
Seoul Trail Information Center (Seoul Iris Garden) | +82-2-779-7902/-4, +82-70-4465-7906 |
Achasan Mountain Information Center | +82-2-450-1655 |
Seoul Trail Information Center (Maeheon Citizen’s Forest) | +82-70-4465-7905 |
Gwanaksan Mountain Information Center | +82-2-879-6561, +82-2-879-6526, +82-2-879-6574 |
A few of the routes can be quite hard going because they feature a lot of going up and down over short distances. Three of the routes are labelled ‘Hard’ such as Route 1 which goes alongside Suraksan Mountain. However, if you’re used to walking, it’s just a matter of preparing for a series of steps and none of these trails are technically hard. Indeed, one of the best things about this curated walk is that most of it is extremely gentle and can be done at a leisurely pace with people of all ages and fitness levels.
Each trail has a few sites of interest along the way, details which can be found on the official link. You can also see what I did on the trails I’ve done so far.
So far, I’ve done Routes 1 to 5 and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them. They’ve been a great alternative to my usual style of hiking which is to go straight up the to the peak of any mountain I’m on! These trails take you along mountain walks many people might overlook and then you come to realise how much beauty there is on those other trails. Oh, and in the summer heat of Korea, the shade from the trees will be much appreciated!
List of routes.
If there’s a link, it will go to my blog of when I did it!
This page will be updated as I continue along the course
Route 1 Suraksan 6.3km Route 2 Deongneung-gogae Pass 5.4km Route 3 Buramsan 6.9km Route 4 Mangusan & Yongmasan 7.7km Route 5 Achasan 4.6km Route 6 Godeoksan 9.3km Route 7 Iljasan 7.7km Route 8 Jangjicheon & Tancheon 8.6km Route 9 Daemosan & Guryongsan 10.7km Route 10 Umyeonsan 7.6km Route 11 | Route 12 Route 13 Route 14 Route 15 Route 16 Route 17 Route 18 Route 19 Route 20 Route 21 |