Beartree Park

Character

Beartree Park is a 33-hectare arboretum and animal park whose mature landscape predates its 2009 public opening: much of the collection was built privately over decades, then moved to Sejong in roughly a thousand truckloads in the late 1980s

Today the grounds hold around 1,000 plant species and roughly 400,000 plants alongside more than a hundred bears, as well as deer, peacocks and other animals. Mature junipers, old zelkova trees, pines and bonsai collections give the horticultural side enough weight to stand independently from the animal enclosures

Some of those trees have biographies of their own. Junipers moved from village walls grew into large specimens after transplantation, while other mature trees survived the relocation from the founder’s earlier garden in Uiwang. Their age is part of the present landscape

The experience

The park alternates between planted gardens and animal areas across a site large enough for walking to be a substantial part of the visit. Greenhouses and formal planting sit within the same broader circuit as ponds, bear areas and deer, so the horticultural collection remains visible even when animals draw the attention

The combination changes the rhythm of the visit. A stretch of shaped trees or seasonal planting can lead into an animal area, then back toward ponds or another garden section. Families have obvious reasons to linger around the animals, while the scale and maturity of the planting reward a slower circuit beyond those stops

The park also has a strong cultivated character. This is a garden shaped through decades of collecting, transplanting, pruning and propagation, with old specimen trees and large plant numbers creating much of its physical density

History

Lee Jae-yeon began growing orchids with his wife in a small greenhouse while working at a bank between 1959 and 1962. In 1963 he established a garden in Uiwang called Songpawon and continued collecting trees, seeds and plants while working in business

The collection expanded beyond plants. By the early 1980s bears had been added, while the Uiwang garden itself faced redevelopment. Lee had already bought land at the present Sejong site in 1978, and between 1987 and 1989 the collection was moved south. The transfer took months and required roughly a thousand truckloads; large old trees were moved carefully at dawn to avoid traffic and reduce damage during transport

The new garden continued expanding, from about 50,000 pyeong toward more than 100,000 pyeong. After years of remaining private, Songpawon opened to the public as Beartree Park on May 11, 2009. The public attraction therefore inherited a collection and landscape that were already several decades old

Before you go

The park is large enough that the botanical and animal collections work best as one visit rather than separate quick stops. Giving the gardens, mature trees and greenhouses time alongside the bear areas makes the long private history of the place much easier to see