Korean Trails

Looking north from Jaeyak-san to Cheonhwang-san

Jaeyak-san and Cheonhwang-san stand a parallel west of Sinbul-san and Ganwol-san, and together form an isolated stretch of ridgeline in Milyang's remote eastern highland, rising from the Baenaegol gorge and connected to the Nakdong-jeaongmaek ridge by broad open high grasslands to Neungdong-san.

With steep drops on all four sides, expansive highland features, stunning rocky out-crops and fascinating opportunites for exploration in the surrounding area - these two peaks offer a great day of challenging hiking and a gateway to multi-day trekking opportunites.

Entranceway to Pyocheong-sa, with Jaeyak-san in the background

Pyochung-sa was originally founded by the great travelling master, Wonhyo-daesa in AD.654. Legend tells he was meditating at a nearby temple when he looked to the foot of Jaeyak-san and beheld a group of auspicious clouds rising from a stand of bamboo. He immediately set to work on building a temple here, which he named Jungnim-sa (Bamboo forest temple), traces of which can be ound behind present day Pyochung-sa.

In 829, the third son of King Heungdeok suffered a stroke, but after drinking water from the well at this temple his symptoms miraculously disappeared - Jungnim-sa was then renamed to Yeongjeong-sa (temple of the eternal well), which it remained until the late 16th century when it was bestowed with the name Pyochung-sa "Expression of Loyalty", in honour of the three patriot monks Samyeong, Cheongheo and Giheo, who gave great service during the Imjin Japanese invasions, and were largely credited for mobilising and defending Milyang from invasion.

Right - Seosang-am hermitage, on the trail to Cheonhwang-san

There are four trail options from the temple, all of which allow for a circuit including both peaks. You can follow the Okryu-cheon stream to the right of the temple up an old road via the Hongryong and Cheungcheung waterfalls attacking Jaeyak-san from the south. Climb above the left of the temple on a mountain path with views over the falls, eventually meeting the same trail. Take the central Naewon valley trail running between the peaks or walk north past Hangye-sa and Seosang-am hermitages, climbing Cheonhwang-san and walking the ridge south over Jaeyak-san - see map below for illustration of all routes.

I'm going to describe the circuit in the clockwise, heading north to first to Cheonhwang-san, onto Jaeyak-san and back to Pyochung-sa. You can expect this this 11km circuit to take about 4.5hrs walking time - the distance can be shortened or lengenthed depending on which options are taken along the route.

Pyochung-sa - 4.8km 2hr - Cheonhwang-san

Western views from the summit of Cheonhwang-san

The trail leaves the stream at Seosang-am, climbing steeply north to an open scree slope decorated with cairns and into a lowering, sub-alpine forest. Once above the scree the trail turns north-east toward the summit and opens up, allowing views to the south and east from rocky ridge teeth protruding above the tree line.

East from Cheonhwang-san across the open grass plain to Neungdong-san

Cheonhwang-san is a bold, open, bald peak with great views in all directions. It's south-eastern face is a sharp drop off the rocky outcrop just below the peak (pictured above). Standing there, one winters day, we had massive eagles flying below us, playing in the thermals and swooping up over our heads.

Cheonhwang-san - 2km 50min - Jaeyak-san

Jaeyak-san from below Cheonhwang-san

Cheonhwang-san - 2km 50min - Jaeyak-san

The trail to Jaeyak-san heads south off the peak, the rocky side, which is littered with hundreds of crude cairns creating quite the dramatic scene. We drop off the peak and enter the highland plain (right) leading down to Cheonhwang-jae pass. There are two highland shelters in the pass which serve as restaurants and can be very welcome on this windswept plain in the winter. These are the prime lunch spots for hikers, so if the trail is busy and you like solitude, it might be best to plan on picnicking elsewhere!

Jinbul-am, high on the eastern face of Jaeyak-san

The Naewon Valley trail leaves the ridge at Cheonhwang-jae, heading right from the lowest shelter, heading back down to Pyochung-sa. If you want to check out the remote hermitage of Jinbul-am (left) take this path and turn left after 500m at a marked junction, you can then continue past the temple and join our trail south of Jaeyak-san, alternately you can cross Jaeyeok-san on our ridge trail and walk down Naewon valley via Jinbul-am.

Leaving the lower rest area the trail joins a boardwalk for much of the roughly 1km stretch to Jaeyak-san, which has a rocky, much smaller summit than Cheonhwang-san.

The ridge leading to Jaeyak-san, southern approach

Jaeyeok-san - 3.7km 1hr50min - Pyochung-sa

Heading south off Jaeyak-san there are a couple of options soon-after for heading back to the temple. In the first 20mins of walking off the peak there are two right forks, both of which are options for heading to Jinbul-am hermitage and on to Pyochung-sa down the central Naewon Valley track, the last of these junctions is 900 metres below the peak (below).

Follow the sign toward Pyochung-sa to complete the full circuit of both mountains. The path hugs the southern face of Jaeyak-san and sidles along the midslopes above the Okryudong-cheon stream below, with a couple of very good viewpoints looking out over the large Cheungcheung and Hongryong waterfalls below, you will eventually turn west and walk through a good forest path into the rear of Pyochung-sa.

Off limits and under CCTV observation; "The Freezing Place" (left)

Gamabul Canyon/Falls (right)

The Eoreum-gol Ice Gorge flows from Cheonhwang-bong's sharp northern slopes, and is a dark, damp, enclosed area with some spectacular waterfalls such as the Gamabul-pokpo (often referred to as Gamabul Canyon).

Eoreum-gol is one of the Milyang areas biggest tourist attractions, due to the mysterious appearance of ice in the valley every July and August; Korea's hottest months.

Long a mystery, Scientists now attribute the phenemenon to freezing local airflows rising from deep under the piles of strewn rock which make up the floor of the gorge, deep within this sunless rocky pile, ice is likely to present all year round.

Scree-slope trail heading to the ridge

Eoreum-gol - 3.3km 2hr - Cheonhwang-san

Generally speaking, when carrying only a daypack in Korean mountains I'll average about 3km to the hour without too many problems. There are exceptions, and the walk from Eoreum-gol to the high ridge between Neungdong and Cheonhwang-san's is one of them, particularly in the winter, although in this place one should be on the lookout for ice at any time of year!

Northern views above Eoreum-gol to Unmun-san (left) Gaji-san (back right) and Baekun-san (white rocky centre)

The trail hits the ridge 1.3km north-east of Cheonhwang-san and 4.5km south-west of Neungdong-san -this is the high grassland triail which has become relatively popular with mountain bikers.

From here to the summit of Cheonhwang-bong hiking is a breeze, and you can expect to be there in around 30min. Unfortunately there is no circuit route to Eoreum-gol.