Sangjokam County Park

Character

In January and February 1982, professors Yang Seung-young and Kim Hang-mook were surveying fossil sites along Korea’s south coast when they found dinosaur footprints in the exposed rock at Deokmyeong-ri. The tracks are now only one part of what can be read along the shore

At low tide, wave-cut rock platforms reveal dinosaur trackways beside ripple marks left by ancient water, polygonal mud cracks formed as sediment dried, and rough surfaces repeatedly trampled before they hardened. Igneous dikes later cut through parts of the sedimentary coast

Sangjokam itself appears farther along the shore as a layered cliff undercut into caves. Its name refers to the table-leg shape of the rock, while nearby Byeongpungbawi changes the geology again: the intrusive rock there cooled into columnar joints

The experience

The fossil coast is linear, not concentrated at one viewing platform. A 3.5-kilometre shoreline route links ports and fossil exposures through Sangjokam County Park, with wooden walkways, stairs, beaches and sections where visitors step onto exposed rock

Low tide opens the clearest view of many footprints. Sauropod, ornithopod and theropod tracks appear across the bedding planes, and some sequences preserve repeated steps in a common direction. Bird footprints add another, rarer fossil record to the same coastal strata

The walk also changes materials underfoot and overhead. Pebble beach gives way to broad sedimentary platforms, then to the strongly layered Sangjokam cliffs and sea caves. The route can continue toward viewpoints and the Goseong Dinosaur Museum, but the museum is a separate attraction with its own hours and ticket

History

The 1982 discovery brought scientific attention to a coast whose fossil-bearing layers had been repeatedly exposed by wave erosion. Goseong designated the area as a county park on November 10, 1983

Research expanded beyond dinosaur tracks. The Deokmyeong-ri site preserves bird footprints, sedimentary structures and evidence of the ancient environment together, making it useful for studying both animal movement and the conditions in which the tracks formed

The fossil locality was designated Natural Monument No. 411 in 1999. Later visitor infrastructure added boardwalks, viewpoints and the nearby dinosaur museum while leaving the principal fossil surfaces in the coastal landscape where they were found

Before you go

The park stretches along the coast rather than around one entrance. Tide and weather affect how much of the fossil-bearing rock is exposed and whether some shoreline sections are comfortable or safe to enter. The dinosaur museum sits above the coast but operates separately from the free-access park