Uljin Geumgang Pine Forest Trail

Character

For centuries, porters carried salt and fish from Uljin’s coast across the Twelve Passes road. In 2010, part of that old trading route reopened as Korea’s first national forest trail—this time with reservations and daily limits to protect the Geumgang pines around it

The forest gives the trail its scale and its restrictions. Several routes pass old-growth stands with individual pines estimated at 500 to 600 years old, while the wider area is managed as a forest genetic-resource protection zone with controlled public access

Human traces remain inside that protected landscape. Old porter paths, village approaches, former slash-and-burn fields and small ritual sites sit among the pines, so the route carries both a forest-conservation story and the history of people who once crossed these ridges for trade and subsistence

The experience

There is no single standard circuit. The trail system spans several courses with different starting points, lengths and terrain, and advance reservation is built into the visit

The most pine-focused routes enter dense Geumgang pine stands and pass named old trees, including a roughly 500-year-old pine on Course 3 and a tree known as the King Pine on Course 4. Other courses place more weight on the old Twelve Passes road, village history or gentler family walking

Numbers are capped, walkers enter on reserved courses, and forest interpretation is built into much of the system. Entry therefore follows a scheduled protected-forest system, with each walk tied to a designated course

Distance also varies sharply. The broader trail network extends across dozens of kilometres, while shorter options give access to the pine landscape without requiring a full-day long-distance hike

History

The modern trail follows routes used long before recreational hiking. The Twelve Passes road connected Uljin’s coast with inland settlements, and pack carriers moved salt, fish and other goods over the mountains

The Korea Forest Service opened the first 13.5-kilometre section in July 2010. The project reused the historic path and made forest protection a central operating rule from the start, using reservations and controlled daily access

The network later expanded into multiple courses across the Geumgang pine region. Official tourism material now describes seven courses totaling about 79.4 kilometres, although individual courses can close for maintenance, fire prevention or ecological recovery

The forest’s vulnerability became unusually visible during the Uljin wildfire in March 2022. Local reporting recorded the fire advancing to within roughly 300 metres of the core Geumgang pine area; firefighting resources were concentrated around the stand, and the protected forest survived

Before you go

Course choice matters here more than at a conventional park. Trailheads are separated across the forest, route lengths vary substantially, and reservation availability determines which part of the landscape can actually be entered on a given day