Nami Island

Character

Nami Island's famous tree-lined landscape grew from two deliberate interventions: Cheongpyeong Dam turned low riverside ground into an island in 1944, and Min Byeong-do began planting its sandy soil in 1965. What feels established today is the result of decades of cultivation

Rows of metasequoia, ginkgo and other planted trees now organize much of the island's visual identity, while lawns, gardens, installations and cultural spaces fill the ground between them. The regular avenues make the human hand visible: this is a landscape shaped by planting decisions as much as by the Bukhangang around it

The experience

The visit begins across the provincial boundary from the place itself. Nami Island is administratively in Chuncheon, Gangwon, but the normal gateway is the ferry dock in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi. The crossing takes about five minutes. That short separation gives the island a clear threshold: road travel ends at the river, and the rest of the visit starts after the boat

Once ashore, the compact scale favors wandering rather than route optimization. The best-known tree avenues are only part of the island; gardens, open lawns, art installations, children's spaces and cultural facilities spread around them. Walking shows the planting most clearly because the character changes from formal rows of trees to broader open ground and river edges over short distances

The seasonal appeal is physical rather than abstract. Deciduous avenues change dramatically through the year, and the same planted geometry that frames green summer walks produces the dense yellow corridor associated with the ginkgo season. The attraction is therefore unusually dependent on a living landscape that keeps changing while its underlying design stays fixed

History

Nami Island became a permanent island in 1944 when construction of Cheongpyeong Dam raised the Bukhangang and flooded the low ground around it. The official island history describes the property that Min Byeong-do bought in 1965 as sandy, barren land rather than the mature woodland visitors see today

Min began planting thousands of trees, including conifers and later metasequoias, and the property was incorporated as Gyeongchun Tourism Development in 1966. Early development included recreation, but tree planting became the long-term project. Contemporary accounts of Min's work describe the forest as a landscape cultivated over decades

The company changed its name to Nami Island Co. in 2000 and from 2001 emphasized culture, art and ecological management. The 2002 television drama *Winter Sonata* then pushed the island to a much larger international audience. Korea JoongAng Daily later described the drama as the point when visitor popularity surged, especially from other Asian countries. The famous filming locations were tree-lined paths that had already been growing for decades

Before you go

Use the Gapyeong ferry dock as the navigation destination. The island's legal address is in Chuncheon, but the operator explicitly warns that there is no road entrance from the Chuncheon side; drivers who navigate directly to the island address can be sent the wrong way

Gapyeong Station and Gapyeong Intercity Bus Terminal are about 1.5 kilometers from the dock. The operator lists roughly 20 minutes on foot or about five minutes by taxi or local vehicle. Standard admission includes the regular round-trip ferry, so ferry access and entry are normally handled as one visit rather than separate tickets