Soyosan

This is a round trip hike starting and ending at Soyosan Station. If you go by car there is a parking lot at the entrance of the park. It is 2.4 km from Soyosan Station to the trail head. The circut of Soyosan is 8.2 km for a total of 13 km. The GPS only shows it as 6.1 miles or about 10 km. I think that is because the GSP cuts out the twisting and turning nature of the trail. The total hike took about 4:45. I rated it moderate because of the length and steepness of the trails. There is a park gate where they charge a 1000 won entrance fee per person.

When you arrive at Soyosan Station (Furthest north stop on line 1) there is only one exit. Cross the street and take a right then left at any of the next couple of streets will get you to the park road. The road climbs at a low angle until you get to the trail head. Along the road you will pass the park entrance gate and the Iljumun Gate. Just passed the Iljumun Gate is your last chance to get water. After that there is no potable water for the entire hike. When you get to the trail head there is a big sign showing the hiking courses. This hike describes course 4 which is the entire circuit covering all the Soyosan peaks from left to right. If you don't want to do all of them, there are many options to take trails back down. The trail is steep right from the start, but has stair cases for the steepest sections. Ten minutes into the hike you will pass the Jajaeam Temple. The first summit is Habaegundae (440m). From there is is an up and down ridge with the highest peak being Uisangdae (587m). Uisangdae and Gongjubong peak (526m) have excellent views of Dongducheon. There is also a nice view point of the Soyosan Valley as you decend from Gongjubong back to the trail head.