Daewangam Park

Character

Daewangam Park’s signature pines once grew high enough to block the beam of Ulgi Lighthouse. In 1987 the working light moved about 50 meters, leaving the old tower in place and making the forest itself part of the park’s maritime history

Both lighthouse towers remain. The smaller historic tower and its taller successor turn a practical navigation problem into something visitors can still see, while the century-old pine trail around them keeps the cause of that change present in the landscape

The experience

From the main entrance, a roughly 600-meter trail runs through dense pine forest toward the lighthouse. For much of that approach the sea stays partly hidden; then the path opens onto rock, navigation structures and the East Sea. The shift from enclosed forest to exposed coast is the park’s strongest spatial move

Two bridges serve different purposes. An iron bridge reaches Daewangam Rock at the southeastern edge of the park. The 303-meter suspension bridge lies farther north between Hatgaebi and Surubang, creating a separate high crossing above the shoreline. Knowing that distinction makes a spread-out park much easier to plan

The newer bridge quickly became a destination in its own right. Ulsan Dong-gu counted about 3.67 million crossings in its first three years after the July 2021 opening. That scale of use helps explain why the northern coast now competes with the lighthouse-and-rock end of the park for visitor attention

History

The lighthouse site dates to the early twentieth century, when a navigational light was established on the headland during the Russo-Japanese War era. A concrete lighthouse followed, becoming part of the modern system guiding ships along Korea’s east coast

By the late twentieth century the surrounding black pines had matured enough to interfere with that system. The 1987 solution produced the pair of lighthouse towers that survives today: the older structure retained and a taller working tower positioned nearby

A different kind of infrastructure arrived in July 2021. The suspension bridge linked two previously separated northern coastal sections and gave visitors another reason to enter and circulate through the park. Its first three years of heavy use show that the addition changed more than the skyline; it redistributed attention across the coast

Before you go

Choose the part of the park that matters most before fixing your route. The lighthouse and Daewangam Rock sit toward the southeastern end; the suspension bridge belongs to the northern coast. Covering both makes sense with more time, while a shorter visit is better built around one of those anchors

The park grounds remain accessible around the clock. The suspension bridge follows separate hours and closure rules, including weather-related shutdowns, so treat it as a scheduled facility inside an otherwise continuously accessible park