Seoraksan National Park
설악산국립공원
The park does not publish opening hours, it publishes a table of when you may start walking and when each gate stops you. Read that table before anything else: the Sogongwon trails run on sunrise and sunset, and everything beyond Biseondae runs on a clock that starts at 03:00 in summer.
Language
Place information
- Korean name
- 설악산국립공원
- Address
- 1091 Seoraksan-ro, Sokcho, Gangwon State (Sogongwon entrance; park office at 833 Seoraksan-ro)
- Opening hours
- open at all hours
- Closed
- Not published by the operator
- Hours notes
- The park runs a designated-entry-time system, revised on 22 June 2026 and in force from 11 July 2026. From the Sogongwon entrance, the walks to Ulsanbawi, the Towangseong Falls viewpoint, Biseondae and Gwongeumseong are barred from sunset until two hours before the next sunrise. Beyond Biseondae the gates carry fixed clocks: towards Yangpok, entry opens 04:00 and closes 12:00 in winter (November to March) and opens 03:00 and closes 14:00 in summer (April to October); towards Madeungnyeong, 04:00-10:00 and 03:00-11:00; to Geumganggul and back, 04:00-14:00 and 03:00-14:00. Shelter bookings extend the cut-off by an hour at Huiungak and two at Yangpok. Trails are closed for storm, heavy-snow and typhoon warnings, during the spring and autumn fire-prevention and resource-protection periods, when spring thaw brings rockfall, and after an earthquake or wildfire. Entering during controlled hours is an offence under the Natural Parks Act: 200,000 won for a first breach, 300,000 for a second and 500,000 for a third. The Seorakdong visitor centre is closed on Mondays. Neither the park nor the cable-car operator publishes the Sogongwon car park's rate; the car park office is on 033-636-4050.
- Time needed
- Full day
- Admission
- Free
Visiting rules
- AccessibilityAllowed with conditions
- The Sogongwon, cable car and Sinheungsa stop is designated an Open Tourism site, listing wheelchair hire, an accessible ticket office, accessible parking bays and an accessible toilet as present. Ramps, internal and external lifts, accessible hands-on facilities and a wheelchair-accessible photo point are listed as absent.
- Sokcho Tourism — accessible Seoraksan course ·
Shared with other places
One rule, several places
Sokcho designates the park entrance, the cable car and Sinheungsa as a single barrier-free stop and publishes one facility list for all three.
Applies to: Sinheungsa
Nearby
Seorak Cable Car (Gwongeumseong)
The one ticketed thing on the Sokcho side of Seoraksan, and the one whose hours you cannot look up in advance: the operator posts them a day at a time. The fare page is stable, the timetable is not, and the two are on the same website.
Sinheungsa
You walk through it whether or not you meant to — the Ulsanbawi, Biseondae and Geumganggul trails all start past its gate, and the great bronze seated Buddha the park's own trail notes call the Cheongdong Daebul stands on the approach before you reach the temple itself.
Donghae Sundaeguk
A sundae-gukbap house in Geumho-dong, Sokcho; its citation records more than forty years and a second generation.
Sokcho Tourist & Fishery Market
Sokcho's town-centre market, laid out as separate alleys for fish, dried seafood and household goods. The market-wide hours are given as 08:00–24:00, but individual stalls set both their own hours and their own closing days — check the one you are aiming for.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to enter Seoraksan?
Nothing. Admission is free and the cultural-heritage zone around Sinheungsa charges no entrance fee either. You pay only for parking, for the cable car if you take it, and for a campsite or shelter if you stay.
Which walk should I do if I only have half a day?
Biryong Falls and the Towangseong Falls viewpoint — 2.8 km each way, about an hour and a half up. It is the shortest of the three courses from Sogongwon and the only one whose first stretch is flat enough for a pushchair.
Is Seoraksan wheelchair accessible?
Partly, and specifically. Wheelchairs can be hired at Sogongwon and the ticket office is accessible, but there is no ramp and no lift. The first 1.2 km of the Biryong Falls trail and the first third of the Biseondae nature trail are passable by wheelchair; nothing beyond those points is.
How do I get to Seoraksan from Sokcho without a car?
City bus 7 or 7-1 from Jangsa-dong runs through both bus terminals to the Seoraksan car park terminus. The first departure is 06:30 and the last bus leaving Seoraksan is 20:35, with services roughly every 17 to 20 minutes in between.
When is the autumn foliage?
The park service names mid-October to early November for the Ulsanbawi course and calls it the best foliage viewing on the mountain. It also flags 1 October to 15 November as a peak period for campsite pricing, which is the same window seen from the other side.
Stories about this place
- Three Places You Can Reach on Foot from Seoraksan's Sogongwon: The Park, Sinheungsa and the Cable Car
Three things within walking reach of Sogongwon, compared on what you see, whether they cost anything and whether they are tied to a clock. The mountain charges no admission, so what shapes the day is the cable car — and the reason is the terrain, not the fare.
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