Goryeosan: The Pink Mountain

Since it is springtime this week I decided to go to Pink Mountain. This mountain is very unique and is not very well known by many foreigners. The mountain is known for having some of the prettiest azalea flowers in all of Asia. It is also by the border of South Korea so you can take a look at the border of North Korea. The Mountain in Korean is called Goryeosan and is near the Gimpo airport and Ganghwa Bus Terminal. It is definitely a place to check out when the flowers are blooming because you won’t want to miss all the amazing azalea flowers that cover the mountain.

Directions to Goryeosan (Pink Mountain):

Take the subway to Sinchon on Line 2 and leave exit 4
Go straight for about 260m to arrive at the bus stop in front of Arteon
Take bus 3000 for about 2 hours to Ganghwa bus terminal
From the bus terminal take bus 1,23,25,27,30,32 or 35 and get off at Dolmen Square
Follow all the hikers to Goryeosan

I began my trip to Goryeosan expecting an easy daytrip from Hanyang University. It turns out the mountain was a little bit farther than expected but was definitely worth it. It takes about 3 hours in total to get to the mountain. I Suggest leaving for the Mountain as early as possible seeing as the mountain can get very congested by midday. I suggest leaving at the earliest 8 am latest 10 am. When you get to the mountain it is very easy to locate the mountain path because everyone who gets off the bus is going to the same place. One thing to make sure is when you get to a fork in the road towards the beginning of the hiking path go to your left instead of the right. I made the mistake of heading to right and ended up having to back track and went about an hour out of my way. The hike took me about 2 hours to the top but I was moving a turtles pace. If you travel at a decent pace the hike should take you about an hour to an hour and a half. As you are hiking the trail will begin to get very steep and the trail even has ropes to hang on to so you can pull yourself up. The hike may not seem worth it at this point but once you reach the top the amazing view will make up for all the hiking. Once at the top you can see all the beautiful flowers and enjoy the view.