One of the good things in Seoul is that the city is surrounded by mountains, you can hike easily reach out by subway easily. One of my favorite mountain is Suraksan(수락산). It's made up with huge rocks. Bukhansan area and near other mountains are actually all granite rock mountains. Suraksan has famous feature, gutter rock, and you can also enjoy some rocky shapes. You don't need to climb rocks though. There are rock climbing courses but also just hiking trails having rope or other rails to grab.
I usually started hiking from Suraksan station line 7. There are shops and small marts where you can buy water or Kimbap on the way to go to the mountain. I prefer start from Suraksan station and finish hiking at Jangam station. Because Jangam station is the terminal of subway line 7. Therefore you can always get seats when you come back from Jangam station. Furthermore, there are some restaurants like Dakgalbi place near Jangam station. Having Dakgalbi and Makgolli is one of the most common fun way to finish hiking for me.
It's a kind of typical Korean mountain. There are Buddhist temples on the way, valley and steep uphill to go up fast. Steep uphills are called 깔딱고개 in Korean. 고개 means hill, 깔딱 is a mimetic word having short breath. Those steep uphills are faster than other ways but push you until the limit usually. In Suraksan one, the steep uphill tries your breathing power and leg muscles.
Another fun thing in Korean mountain is having an ice cream. There are ice cream vendors usually near the summit or right after the steep uphill. Me and my boyfriend's favorite ice cream is melon color one. Those ice creams are usually so well frozen, often my tongue sticks on it.
I recommend you to bring hiking gloves even on summer here. There are many rocky areas and you need to grab iron ropes to go up. Wear hiking shoes. I know Koreans gear up as if they go to Himalaya even when they hike in Korean mountains. Among all those gears, if I need to pick the most important thing, I will pick hiking shoes. Sometimes there are sands on the big rocks and they are slippery. For your safety, wear proper shoes and bring gloves.
I personally prefer hiking in small group because I can spend my peaceful time alone enough. On the way of the summit, there are some flat big rocks here and there. Some of those places have nice shades made by pine trees. When I went the mountain only with my boyfriend, we had lunch there, drank Makgoli a bit, listened musics and just lied down under the shade looking up the blue sky.
I think the most famous feature of this mountain is the place called Gutter rock(홈통바위). It's also called Train rock(기차바위). It's a big flat rock area which has a gutter look like gap on it. There are 3 ropes to climb up and down the rock. For safety reason, no more than 3 people can use one rope at once. Because of this reason, if there are many people, you need to wait your turn. Some people get scared because of the height and there is a bypass to go up and down which is a normal road. Therefore, if you don't want to use the rope, just go to the bypass. I saw some people just got froze in the middle of the rope due to sudden fear.
There is another tip when you go through this rock. Don't put your cell phone in your pockets. When I was there, one lady put her phone in the pocket and it fell down. I already came down and was waiting my boyfriend so I luckily saw where the phone fell. I found it in the bush but the screen was all broken. She sent me the mango smoothie coupon saying the phone has all the important contacts. I got free mango smoothie!
This mountain is at the boundary of Seoul city so if you go to far, you will go down to Gyeonggi-do area. It's still near Seoul and there must be public transportation but don't miss the way go down in time if you want to take a subway again.
There is another valley on the way down to Jangam station. There are clean cold water if you go there on summer. Not deep enough to swim but can refresh if you wash your feet there.
Bukhansan is the tallest mountain in Seoul area but Suraksan also has a nice rocky shapes and semi bouldering course. There is specifically for rock climbing course too. If you like rocky path, I recommend Suraksan.
If you find any errors, have updated information or want to add some comments, feel free to let me know (Last update: 2019. 5. 24.)
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