Yeongnam Alps

Character

The Yeongnam Alps are still promoted as a nine-peak mountain region, but the current completion program recognizes seven summits and limits participants to two certifications per month. The difference is intentional: the challenge has been repeatedly adjusted as popularity, trail safety and access conditions changed

The two labels operate at different scales. “Yeongnam Alps” names a broad mountain region straddling several local governments; Ulju’s completion program defines a current achievement route through selected summits and can change its rules without changing the mountains themselves

The experience

Route choice comes before almost every other decision here. There is no single arrival point or standard day. Gajisan gives the range its highest summit, Ganwolsan and Sinbulsan connect with large silver-grass ridges around Ganwoljae, and Yeongchuksan, Cheonhwangsan, Jaeyaksan, Goheonsan, Unmunsan and Munboksan extend the system across provincial boundaries

For challenge hikers, the active program selects Gajisan, Ganwolsan, Sinbulsan, Yeongchuksan, Cheonhwangsan, Goheonsan and Unmunsan. Jaeyaksan and Munboksan still belong to the familiar regional peak list, which is why older maps and current certification instructions can appear to disagree

The completion program has also changed hiking behavior. Since Ulju launched it in 2019, summit photographs, app verification and commemorative medals have turned repeat visits into a structured project for tens of thousands of hikers. In 2026, 30,000 people completed the challenge by early June, and most finishers came from outside Ulju. The system now shapes when people climb, how they sequence peaks and how crowded certain summits can become

History

The mountain region predates its tourism brand, but the name “Yeongnam Alps” organizes a modern idea of connected high mountains across Ulsan, Miryang, Yangsan, Cheongdo and Gyeongju. Ulsan tourism material describes an area of roughly 255 square kilometers, with extensive silver-grass fields across high ridges

Ulju added a formal summit-completion program in August 2019, originally using the full traditional summit set and rewarding hikers who documented each climb. Participation rose from a few thousand finishers in the first year to tens of thousands annually, giving an administrative certification system unusual influence over how an open mountain region is used

As participation grew, safety began reshaping the program. Jaeyaksan and Munboksan were removed from certification, with Ulju sources citing safety and access constraints. From 2025, another rule limited certification to two peaks per month after concerns about participants rushing several summits in a day and causing inconvenience around trail communities

Before you go

Choose the mountain and route before choosing transport. A trip to Ganwoljae or Sinbulsan begins from a different practical problem than a Gajisan or Unmunsan hike, and one “nearest station” for the whole Yeongnam Alps would be misleading

If you are following the official completion program, use the current app rules. The 2026 program allows a maximum of two summit certifications per month and runs through November 30. Trail closures and wildfire restrictions can still override tourism plans, so route-specific access matters more than the certification calendar