Real-time weather forecasts & safety index for South Korea's 100 famous mountains
Check real-time weather and safety status for Deogyusan Mountain. We provide wind speed, precipitation, temperature, trail courses, and transport info to help plan your hike.
"Excellent weather conditions for climbing."
Embracing fertile plains and highly picturesque valleys, Deogyusan Mountain (1614.2m) is truly magnificent in cherry blossoms and flower petals rain down in April. Climbing past the tranquil temple courtyard leads to an immense view. A feast of Jeolla-style mountain vegetable bibimbap and freshwater crab soup afterward completes the journey.
”It forms a majestic mountain range of 17km from Hyangjeokbong Peak to Namdeokyu, and was selected considering the fact that it is the source of the Geumgang and Nakdong Rivers and was designated as a national park (1975). It is located in the 30km-long Muju Gucheondong Valley that flows down to the north of Deogyusan Mountain, a natural recreation forest, and Silla. Baekryunsa Temple, founded by State Preceptor Muyeom in the 5th year of King Heungdeok (830), is famous.
The trail course of Deogyusan Mountain is 40 kilometers long from Sosa Pass to Yuksimryeong, but most people choose the 20 kilometer course that goes up to Baekryunsa Temple and down to Yeonggaksa Temple. However, this course is also a long distance, taking only 11 hours to hike, and is considered one of the representative cross-country courses in Korea, along with the Baekri Jureung Tomb of Jirisan Mountain and the Bukjurung Tomb of Seoraksan Mountain. After the Satgatjae Shelter was built on top of Jureung, the trek became easier. Many people replace the entire climb from the park management office to Hyanghyangbong Peak with the gondola at Muju Resort. In this case, you only need to walk for 30 minutes on a road that is almost flat with little elevation. The third mountain in the southern half of the Baekdudaegan Mountain Range has been reduced to a walking trail. The real trek begins at Baekambong Peak, the ridge intersection just past Jungbong Peak. After going through Dongyeopryeong and Muryongsan Mountain, climb to the top of Satgatbong Peak, Wolseongjae, and Namdeokyu and come down to Yeonggaksa Temple. There is a spring at the Satgat Aggregate Shelter near Dongeop Ijae and the stone pagoda, so it is easy to get water.
The starting point is Muju. Buses to Gucheon-dong run every 20 minutes. For those traveling without driving, the Gyeongbu Line is good, so there are 54 trains from Daejeon and 32 trains from Yeongdong. Express buses run 5 times from Seoul Nambu Terminal, and there are also buses from Daegu, Gwangju, and Cheongju. There are 9, 3, 3, and 6 buses from Geochang to Songgyesa Temple, Byeonggok, Sansu, and Hwangjeom, which are the starting points for hiking in the southeast. To Geochang, there are 8 stops at East Seoul Terminal and 14 stops at Nambu Terminal (2 late at night). There are buses from Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, Jeonju, and Gimcheon to cities other than Gyeongnam. Towards the southernmost Yeonggaksa Temple, local buses run six times from Hamyang. To Hamyang, there are 10 direct buses from East Seoul Terminal and 10 from Nambu Terminal (2 late at night). Buses run to cities other than Gyeongnam, including Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, Suwon, Jeonju, and Gimcheon. With the opening of the Daejeon-Tongyeong Expressway, transportation has become more convenient. If you take national road 37 from Muju IC, you will reach Gucheon-dong. If you take Seosang IC → national road 26 → local road 37, you will reach Hamyang and Deulnalmeori in Geochang. To find Chilyeon Valley, go from Deogyusan IC toward Anseong.