Saryeoni Forest Path

Character

Saryeoni runs for about 10 kilometres between the Bijarim-ro side of Jeju City and the Bulgeun Oreum entrance in Seogwipo. The route is broad and comparatively gentle, passing through dense cedar stands mixed with oak, hornbeam, snowbell and cypress

That shape comes from its earlier use. Research on the trail traces it to forestry roads built for reforestation work in national forest land. When vehicle access was controlled and the route reopened for walkers in 2009, the old road geometry remained: long sightlines, gradual grades and a path wide enough to feel more like a forest corridor than a mountain footpath

The name reaches beyond the ordinary walking route. “Saryeoni” carries the sense of a sacred or spiritual place and comes from Saryeoni Oreum in the Hannam Experimental Forest. The standard public trail, however, is defined by the corridor between its road entrances rather than by an ascent of that oreum

The experience

The trail changes depending on where you start. There is no parking at the Bijarim-ro entrance, while the Bulgeun Oreum side on Namjo-ro has nearby parking and a gentler approach. Official guidance specifically recommends the southern side for older visitors and people using strollers

From either end, the forest itself is the main event. Tall cedar trunks create the most recognizable sections, but the route also passes mixed woodland and red volcanic scoria near the Bulgeun Oreum side. The broad path keeps navigation simple, so distance matters more than technical difficulty

Mulchat Oreum sits along the wider forest system but is normally closed for conservation. The ordinary walk therefore ends or turns back near its entrance rather than continuing into the crater area. That boundary is easy to miss on maps, yet it changes how the 10-kilometre route works in practice: most car users make an out-and-back walk, while public transport makes a through-walk between the two road entrances more realistic

History

The forest predates the trail as a visitor attraction. The area became part of the Jeju Island Biosphere Reserve designated by UNESCO in 2002, while the road itself still served forestry purposes. In 2009, vehicle control and trail work converted the old reforestation road into the Saryeoni Forest Trail used today

Protection has continued to shape what remains accessible. Mulchat Oreum has normally been off-limits under a natural rest-year system since December 2008. In June 2026, Jeju temporarily opened it for five days during the Saryeoni Forest Eco-Healing event, with advance reservations and limited group sizes. Once the event ended, the normal restriction returned

That temporary opening is a useful measure of the landscape around the trail. Saryeoni is a public walking route through a much larger forest system, and some of the most ecologically sensitive places beside it remain deliberately outside everyday access

Before you go

The choice of entrance changes the walk. Drivers have a simpler start from the Bulgeun Oreum side because parking is available there; the Bijarim-ro entrance is better suited to bus access or a through-route. Food is prohibited on the trail, while water is allowed, and weather can close sections or the entire path