5 Best Hikes in Seoul

As someone who loves to hike but also enjoys the city life, living in Seoul, Korea was a dream come true. Although I was only there for a year, I was able to hike a good amount of trails in my free time. With Seoul having some of the best public transportation in the world, I was able to get to all of these trails by using the same subway and bus routes I would use to visit other popular tourist destinations or go out with friends. All of these hikes can be done in a few hours, a half day, or a day at the absolute longest depending on your pace. Whether you want a quick hike after work to catch the sunset or spend an entire day exploring the mountains, here are my top five favorite hikes in Seoul.

Baegundae

Baegundae mountain is located in the beautiful Bukhansan National Park in the northern part of Seoul. There are other hikes that you can do in Bukhansan National Park, but this is definitely the most popular and with good reason. Baegundae peak is the tallest point in Seoul with a 360 degree view of the city and the surrounding areas at the top. The hike can take anywhere from 3-5 hours to complete depending on the route you take, the pace you hike at, and how busy the trail is.

The hike starts out in the trees and about half of the hike is shaded which is nice if you are going in the summer or early fall which is when I did it. The flat path turns into stone steps and then eventually platform steps before getting to the hardest part of the trail. That last part is the steepest with cords bolted into the mountain to help since the trail is pretty much just rock at this point. Once you make it to the top, there is a flatter spot where people hang out and relax after getting to the peak which is where the flag is at. This is where you will have the 360 degree view of Seoul and the surrounding areas, and, luckily, when I went, the weather was great so we could see for miles.

Here is a better view of what the steep part of the trail looks like. You can also see how many people might be on this trail when you go especially if you go on a weekend or holiday. When descending, you can go down the same way, or there is another trail that you can take once you get back down to the top of the platform stairs. It can be challenging but well worth it as this was one of my favorite hikes I did in all of Korea.

Ansan

Ansan is a much shorter trail only taking around 1-2 hours to complete. Although it is much smaller and less challenging than Baegundae, there are some steeper parts of this trail as you will see in the video below. What is great about this hike is that it takes you through the woods where some trees go right through the platform they built for the trail. We went in the early spring, so there wasn't much on the trees, but it was still a pretty hike. There are different entry points, but we started by Independence Park which had an old prison that has been turned into a museum next to it.

Once you make it to the dirt trails that lead you to the top, you will see the Beacon Mound which is what they used to send military smoke signals long ago. The peak gives great views of Bukhansan, part of the city fortress wall, and Namsan tower in the distance. This is a great half day hike that offers a variety of terrain and views along the way.

Inwangsan

Inwangsan is another short hike that takes 1-2 hours to complete, and it can be done anytime during the year. It is centrally located, only about 30 minutes from Myeongdong and Seoul Station which makes this hike easily accessible no matter where you are staying at. This hike takes you back in time as you hike along the fortress wall until you get to the peak. The view from the top shows a striking duality between old Seoul and modern Seoul which is one of the reasons this city is so special. There are a few other trails along the fortress wall that circle the city, but Inwangsan was my favorite.

Dobongsan

Dobongsan is one of the more challenging hikes on this list, but it is my favorite of the five. Depending on the route taken and if you choose to visit both temples, this hike takes anywhere from 3-5 hours. What I love about this hike is the variety of terrain and views you get from start to finish. It has a paved path, stone steps, a little bit of scrambling, and a ridge walk at the very end.

The first part of the hike is pretty easy up until you arrive at the Cheonchuksa Temple. This temple is a fascinating landmark with a great view of the mountain in the background. Plus, it is a good stopping point before the terrain switches and the elevation of the hike increases.

I did this hike with my friends around the time of Buddha's Birthday which made it even more colorful than it usually is.

The second half of the hike is more challenging with a few scrambling spots between the stone steps. This continues until you are right underneath the top part of the mountain. The third part of the hike has steep stairs that lead you up to the peak.

Once you turn the corner after completing the stairs, there is a beautiful view between the two ridges overlooking Seoul and the mountains in the distance. The ridge walk continues to the left if you want to adventure out to the end. This short stretch is more challenging than any other part of the path. There is room to move around at the top to explore different parts of the peak which is helpful on days when there are a lot of hikers on the trail.

After hiking back down, we stopped at one of the pop up restaurants for some haemul pajeon and makgeolli to get the full Korean hiking experience, and it did not disappoint.

Namsan

Also know as "Seoul Tower", Namsan is the shortest hike (if you can call it a hike) on this list. This hike is located right in the middle of Seoul and only takes about 30 minutes to an hour to reach the top. There are two different starting points (Myeongdong or HBC/Itaewon) which gives people the opportunity to hike up one way and down the other if they want different views.

At the peak, there is an option to go to the top of the tower for 10,000 won to get a complete 360 degree view of the city which I did the first time I went in the summer. Since this hike is open all year round, I was able to take my mom when she visited in the winter, and she really enjoyed all of the colorful locks along the fences. Namsan can also be hiked at night giving the views at the top a whole different perspective once the city is all lit up. It is a very popular tourist destination, but I recommend at least doing it once when in Seoul.

Honorable Mentions

There are many other trails in Seoul besides the ones mentioned above, so I figured I would briefly include a few that just missed the top five. If you want more information on these hikes or any of the other ones listed above, feel free to contact in the comments below.

Gwanaksan

Achasan

Suraksan