Seoraksan National Park Ulsanbawi Hiking From Seoul

Had a blast hiking Seoraksan National Park with Mr Kim. He is clearly very knowledgeable and passionate about the outdoors. You will not regret booking this tour!

The tour guide Kim is a gem. We have been in Korea for a week now and he is by far the best tour guide we have had. Extremely knowledgeable, personable and his English is fantastic. The hike was a really good and definitely not for beginners but totally doable.

Amazing trip. Hike and temple awe inspiring. Our guide Mr. Kim was attentive, knowledgeable and insightful both in regard to the hike and experiencing Korean culture. He even dropped us off at a fantastic restaurant instead of our hotel.

A must - you won’t regret it. I was lucky to book this 2 days in advance after a last minute decision. Everything ran smooth, jimmy was efficient, prepared and a great guide.

Mr. Kim was punctual and an absolute joy to converse with. I think we talked non-stop to/from Seoul. He had me laughing so much that I still smile when I think about that day. I look forward to booking him again the next time I am in SK! I am sure there is still plenty for us to chat about.😆 The weather was perfect and the hike was great. Do be prepared for the hundreds of steps and ensure you can handle the 3.8km trek and hundreds of steps up the incline to elevation!!!!

The tour was perfectly corresponding to the description ! It was such a great experience and discovery : first the landscape was outstanding, then our guide (Kim) was great. He knows perfectly the place, and let us walk at our own pace. Also he gave us the opportunity to discover South Korea culture and history, and explanation all along the trail, what I really appreciate. Transportation was very smooth, the road was beautiful and the timing was perfect. Communication for preparing hike and pick-up was easy. Thank you so much for this amazing day, we will never forget it !

The hiking guide/driver Mr Jimmy Nam is excellent. He drives carefully, very considerate, taking good care of us throughout the hike (almost 4.5 hr) as well as the 2-way drive to/from Seoul to Seoraksan National Park (more than 200 km each way). We unreservedly recommend Jimmy to be your hiking guide for hiking trips in Korea.

This hike is best suited for experienced hikers, but it was absolutely worth the effort! We explored a beautiful temple, drank fresh water from a grotto, took a scenic cable car ride, and met fellow travelers from around the world along the trail. Our guide, Mr. Kim, was outstanding—friendly, kind, and incredibly knowledgeable. He shared insights about Korean history, local plants and wildlife, and even explained how traffic and transportation systems work in the area. He made the day both educational and fun. Highly recommend this tour if you’re looking for a deeper cultural and natural experience in Korea!

The Ulsanbawi hike in Seoraksan National Park was wonderful and our guide, Jimmy was great. Would recommend this tour to anyone that loves the outdoors and likes hiking.

Mr. Kim was a fantastic guide! He is very knowledgeable about geology and trees. We enjoyed conversing with him about Korea and many other subjects. The Ulsanbawi hike was challenging but amazing hike! I highly recommend this trip even though it is a lot of driving.

Incredibly popular and beautiful hike in the fall with the change in the foliage. Jimmy our guide kept a good pace and was great with photos at strategic vantages. We had a great time and highly recommend taking this.

We really enjoyed our chance to see the beautiful nature side of Korea outside the city with this tour. Our guide, Chansoo (Chance), picked us up right on time from our hotel and we had a comfortable vehicle for our journey to Seoraksan. He spoke excellent English and was knowledgeable on a wide range of topics and we kept the conversation going for much of the journey and our hike. The hike begins with a beautiful temple and large Buddha statue. It was stunning against the backdrop of the snowy peaks. Most of the trail was steep, well manicured stairs up, up, and up to the top of Ulsanbawi Rock - a unique rock formation that stood out from the rest of the mountainous landscape. Though our trip was on March 19, we experienced a light snow storm at the summit! There was also some remaining winter snow on parts of the trail. We were glad we had prepared for cold, wind and rain despite the sunny start to the day. Throughout the hike, Chance pointed out interesting landmarks and views and kindly took photos of us along the way. He loves hiking and the mountains and it was wonderful to be around someone who loves what they do. He was also open to questions we had about the local culture, history, food…we even talked movies and cars and outdoor apparel! We capped off the hike with a visit to a nearby coastal town for some hot and comforting army stew and a spin through the local market. Meals were not included in the tour, but he still allowed time for us to eat, we just had to cover that cost which was fine. Overall highly recommend taking this trip with Chance if you enjoy hiking and the outdoors. Be warned that while it’s a relatively short hike, it is steep with a LOT of stairs if you have any mobility issues.

After great hike we had good lunch korean style and quick tour of sokcho. Chance was good tour guide. Would recommend highly

Had a great time with Chance for this mountain hike. It was actually my second time after 3years since the last trip with him and i was never bored during the entire trip as we chatted alot on politics, culture and many other topics. During the hike, he ensures to keep pace with me and along the way he explains the history of the monuments/temples we walked passed. I would highly recommend to engage him as your guide !

Highly recommended experience! Jimmy is a greatly knowledgeable and fun guide. Would definitely contact him again the future for other hikes!

I’d originally booked the other course (Daechangbong) but got a call from Chance Kim (the guide for this tour) to find out more about our hiking experience and fitness level. He recommended that we switch to the Ulsanbawi course, which I appreciated because I had no idea what to expect regarding the difficulty level of hiking in Seoraksan. First of all regarding the hike itself - the climb up is about 2.4km in distance (excluding the walk from the entrance of the park). We climbed up rock steps followed by an actual staircase - imagine living on the top floor of an apartment block and having the lift break down, with the difficulty/duration ramped up! However, combined with amazing views on the way up and at the top, the challenge is very worth it. I did the climb in May when all the trees are green and imagine it would be breathtaking in autumn. Chance himself is a very experienced professional hiker and you can be assured you are in good hands signing up for his outdoor tours. He is knowledgeable about Korean history, politics and even flora/fauna which makes the trip even more interesting and enriching. I also need to mention that he’s a great driver - I get car sick easily especially when going through multiple mountain bends, but not in his car. He was also punctual and picked us up directly from our hotel in Seoul. He also offers customised tours, and we were happy to engage him the following day especially after our good experience at Seoraksan. We weren’t able to make it to one place on the itinerary due to unforeseen circumstances, but he was able to quickly and flexibly suggest an alternative for us. All in all, highly recommended! Go for this hike, you won’t regret it. We are glad we signed up.

I had an amazing time with Chance. The drive to the mountain was so entertaining. We talked a lot about South Korea and travels in general. And the whole walk up to the mountain was lovely. The weather was perfect. And after our hike we went to the beach side to have lunch and spend some time by the sea. An unforgettable day

Highly recommend Outdoors Korea for hiking trips. Chance is a very experience guide and made the trip very enjoyable.

He is an experienced guide and it was nice to climb Sekkakuzan with him. The guide was very kind and took pictures and had Yokan for lunch, which was very good. Thinking that it was for studying Korean, we applied for a tour in Korean, but since we still couldn't speak well enough, our guide used his cell phone to translate and communicate in Korean and translation. I also wanted to use it. Thank you very much.