A Day in Seoraksan National Park

Is it really possible to do a day trip to Seoraksan National Park?  I guess that depends on which areas of the park you want to explore.  As for me, I just wanted to experience Seoraksan and explore a bit.

We started out early and got to Seoraksan National Park before 11:30 AM.  It took almost 4 hours to get to the park (for a more detailed account of the bus trip, please refer to this: The Road to Seoraksan).

The last stop of bus 7 or 7-1 from Sokcho is the park entrance.  Cross the street from the bus stop then walk past the parking lot for the Seoraksan Admission Ticket Office.  Ticket costs KRW3,500 per person.  They have senior discounts but for Koreans only.

Admission Ticket Office

Entrance to the park

Information Center

Past the Information Center is the statue of a bear that welcomes you to the park.  Follow the path and to the left would be the Cable Car Station.

Seoraksan Cable Car Station

The ticket office is on the ground floor of the cable car station.  You can opt to specify a particular time, or get in line after buying the ticket.  We took the 2nd option.  So, after buying tickets (return tickets cost KRW9,000 per adult), we went to the 2nd floor for boarding.  There's still a line even on a Monday, so I could just imagine how long the line goes on a weekend.

Seorak Cable Car Ticket Office

Food stalls available on the ground floor
and coin lockers on the second floor

Cable car boarding area

Cable car

View from the cable car

View from the cable car

Coffee/Snack shop on the upper cable car station

Upon getting out of the upper cable car station, there's a plight of stairs leading up towards the Gwongeumseong Fortress.  Some of the path have stairs (maybe those steep and slippery parts) and some are plain trails.

Gwongeumseong

When it started to drizzle, I made my way back to the cable car station where my Mom was waiting, then we went in line for the next available cable car going down.  There is no specific time for the return trip.  You can just fall in line as soon as you're ready to go down.  When we got to the lower cable car station, we continued deeper into the park.  I planned to try the path to Biseondae.  Below are more images of the park.

Seorak Cable Car

Food/Souvenir shops along the path

Seoraksan Tourist Hotel
The only hotel inside the park

Restroom in the middle of the trail

Food / Souvenir stalls along the trail

It was on this part of the trail that I turned back.
I didn't see any signs in the trail so I'm not
sure how far I am from Biseondae Rocks.

I should have seen this before I went into the trail.
I got only as far as #15.

It's time for us to head back to Seoul now.  We still have an early flight to catch tomorrow.

So, is it really possible to do a day trip?  It is possible.  You could already try 2-3 of the easier trails during that time.  Just make sure to go on a weekday and go really early.  But, if you want to do the longer trails or do it in a more leisurely way, then I think an overnight might be better.


Additional Information: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264211