Seorak-dong

Getting here

From Seoul

Take an express bus from Seoul Express Bus Terminal or Dong Seoul Terminal; KTO's Korean article of November 2021 gives about 2 hours 20 minutes and 2 hours 30 minutes to Sokcho Express Bus Terminal. For Seorak-dong, take city bus 7 or 7-1 from Sokcho Intercity Bus Terminal to the Seoraksan Sogongwon Park stop (KTO, 2024). The intercity terminal is about 5 minutes on foot from the market, and the market about 15 from the express terminal (KTO, 2023).

From Yangyang Airport

KTO's 2026 guides give 30 to 40 minutes from the airport to Sokcho by intercity bus and about 30 minutes by taxi. From Sokcho Intercity Bus Terminal, city buses 7 and 7-1 run to the Seoraksan Sogongwon Park stop (KTO, 2024).

From downtown Sokcho

City bus 7 or 7-1 from Sokcho Intercity Bus Terminal to the Seoraksan Sogongwon Park stop, KTO's September 2024 national parks guide says, for both the Ulsanbawi and Daecheongbong trails. The terminal is about 5 minutes on foot from the Tourist & Fishery Market (KTO, 2023).

By car

Come up Seoraksan-ro to the park; KTO lists parking at the park, with fees that change by season. KTO's Korean guide of November 2023 puts the cable car 8.1 km, about 13 minutes, by car from the Sokcho City Museum.

On your doorstep

• Sinheungsa Temple Founded as Hyangseongsa by the monk Jajang in the Silla dynasty, in 652, KTO says. Its heritage includes Geungnakbojeon Hall, a wooden building from the mid-Joseon period, and the three-storey stone pagoda at the Hyangseongsa Temple site. It is at 1137 Seoraksan-ro, on the trail to Ulsanbawi.
• Seoraksan Cable Car and Gwongeumseong The cable car connects Sinheungsa and Gwongeumseong Fortress, a stone fortress from the Goryeo dynasty, in about 10 minutes. KTO says one-way tickets are not sold and the hours are announced on its website the day before.
• Ulsanbawi Rock Six massive rock peaks, each reaching about 900 m, named for the way they spread out like a fence. KTO's 2025 guide gives the route from Sogongwon as 3.8 km and about two hours each way, past Sinheungsa and Heundeulbawi Rock; its 2024 guide gives the loop back to Sogongwon as 7.6 km and 4 hours.
• Biryongpokpo Falls A 16 m waterfall 2.4 km south of the Sogongwon ticket booth, about an hour's walk. KTO gives about 3 hours for the round trip taking in Towangseong Falls and Yukdam Falls.
• Biseondae and Daecheongbong Daecheongbong, at 1,708 m, is the third-highest peak in Korea, KTO says. Its 2024 guide gives the Daecheongbong trail as 16 km and 10 hours, from Sogongwon by Biseondae and Huiungak Shelter to the summit and down to Osaek; Sogongwon to Biseondae stays open during the fire-prevention closures (KTO, 2024).
• Cheoksan Hot Springs Zone A village in Nohak-dong that KTO describes as dedicated to hot spring tourism, with views of the snow-capped Seoraksan.
• Sokcho City Museum Home to the Displaced People's Culture Village, which recreates the Cheongho-dong alleys where refugees from the North lived after the war, and the old Sokcho Station building, demolished in 1978. Open 09:00–18:00 from March to October and 09:00–17:00 from November to February; closed on Mondays and 1 January. KTO puts it 8.1 km, about 13 minutes by car, from the cable car.
• Downtown Sokcho The beach, the Tourist & Fishery Market and Dongmyeong Port are the other half of Sokcho. Buses 7 and 7-1 start at the intercity terminal, about 5 minutes on foot from the market (KTO, 2023).

One easy day from here

1. Early morning Through the Sogongwon entrance once it opens (03:00 in summer, 04:00 in winter, KTO) and up to Ulsanbawi past Sinheungsa and Heundeulbawi Rock: about two hours each way by KTO's 2025 figure.
2. Late morning Back down to Sogongwon, with Sinheungsa's Geungnakbojeon Hall on the way.
3. Afternoon The cable car to Gwongeumseong, about 10 minutes up, with that day's hours posted on its website the day before; or the walk to Biryong Falls, about an hour each way from the ticket booth.
4. Evening A soak in the Cheoksan Hot Springs Zone in Nohak-dong, then an early night for the next day's trail.

Before you book

• October is the peak. The Korea Meteorological Administration recorded Seoraksan's first autumn colour on 28 September 2026, the normal date, and the normal peak is 17 October. Book October weekends well ahead.
• Plan long ridge walks around the fire-prevention closures. KTO's 2024 guide gives them as 2 March to 15 May and 15 November to 15 December, when the upper Biseondae–Daecheongbong section closes and Sogongwon to Biseondae stays open. In spring 2025 (4 March to 15 May), the park service kept Sogongwon to Ulsanbawi and Sogongwon to Biseondae open as well.
• Entry hours set the day. KTO lists 03:00–14:00 in summer and 04:00–12:00 in winter, so a 10-hour Daecheongbong crossing starts before dawn: exactly why you sleep at the gate.
• The cable car runs to a daily timetable announced on its website the day before, and sells return tickets only (KTO). Keep the afternoon flexible.