Our last excursion out to Seoul we decided to make a physical and historical one – to hike Seoul City Wall. The wall was built back in 1396 at the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty to protect Seoul and the palaces within. The wall completely surrounded the city, with four main gates, one to the north, south, east, and west. A good portion of the wall remains standing today, but various parts of it no longer exist either due to disrepair, damage or in the most unfortunate case, due to highways being built.

Hike Seoul City Wall

Getting To Seoul City Wall

We decided to hike the Baegak Mountain trail as it seemed the most interesting part to us and would give us a nice finish in a historic village. We began by taking the Metro on Line 1 from Songtan station up to Jongno-3(sam)ga Station and transferring to Line 3 and taking it up to Gyeongbokgung Station. The ride on the metro was rather long, as we expected, but thankfully it wasn’t too crowded so we were able to sit the whole time.

From there we hopped onto the 1012 green bus and proceeded up to the Changuimun Gate. At this point, we had managed to get more comfortable riding buses in Seoul, but it was still not as easy as the metro. The buses do not have signage in English, so we had to be very careful about where we were going. The speaker system still announced the stops in English, the audio wasn’t great. 

Changuimun gate is the area where Beagaksan Mountain and Inwangsan Mountain meet. Unfortunately, I did not hear the bus stop – because of the poor audio – and we went well past our stop. So we had to get off and get onto the 1022 green bus to make it back to our desired stop: Jahamungogae Ridge. There we could walk up to the visitor office and begin to sign in.

Bring Your Passport! You’re Entering An Active Military Zone

To hike this section of the wall, the northern stretch between Changuimun Gate and Hyehwamun Gate, you will need to bring your passport or national ID. This is because the wall in this section is an active military zone, which was only opened up to the public back in in 2007.

It is very much controlled by the military, and there are armed guards all over the place. Cameras will watch you the entire way and are placed about every 50 feet. The guards in the towers holding assault rifles and eyeing you menacingly is a little disconcerting. They are serious about security. This section of the wall is open only during select times as well.

• Mar. ~ Oct.: 09:00 – 16:00
• Nov. ~ Feb.: 10:00 – 15:00
• Closed: holidays and every Monday

An Enjoyable Hike

All that aside though, the hike is pretty enjoyable. Briana disagrees a bit here, mainly because she was feeling a little sick at the time and the exercise was not making her happy. Climbing the wall is definitely a workout – the stairs are big and steep and there are a lot of them. Our first hour and a half was a steep climb up, with many breaks throughout to rest.

As you climb, you see that the sights are great, and there are many people hiking the trail along with you. It is a somewhat well-traveled route. The only issue is that you really can’t take pictures, except at designated points, for national security reasons. Personally, I don’t see what it actually accomplishes, as the wall is basically a thin strip dividing two sections of the city – both of which you can photograph freely – but I guess rules are rules.

View looking back at the beginning of the trail:

1.21 Tree

Back on January 21st, 1968, a North Korean squadron managed to make it to the wall and engaged in a firefight, where a tree was shot numerous times, now famously enshrined as the 1.21-tree. This mini-invasion is the most likely reason for the heightened security in the area.

 

The beginning of the hike – the way we went – begins with a steep climb up Baegak mountain of 342 meters. Once you reach the top of the peak though, the rest of the wall is downhill or flat, with the occasional short uphill trek. To your right is Seoul and to your left, you will find many smaller communities, that butt up right to the wall in many places.

The path continues for a little while providing great views of the city and nature. Shortly after you pass the second Sukjeongmun Gate (North Gate) you will exit the military zone and return your pass. If needed, you can go to the bathroom here – or talk to the people managing this portion of the gate. It is worth noting that at this point, you can take pictures freely and feel more at ease about taking your time.

Bring A Picnic

We passed some picnic-ers at one point. They had quite the setup and Briana stared at their food a little too long when we stopped near them for a snack break so they offered us some but we declined. We found that the local South Koreans were always offering us things and being very friendly. We often (graciously) declined, as we never had anything to give back in return.

* If you need help figuring out a pack to use, check out our guide here.

And Here We Got Lost

We came to a certain part where the path seemed to split in two directions, one down a wooden boardwalk on the front face of the wall, and one down the backside. We chose the backside, and this was not the right choice. It took us steeply down the mountainside, and through a park.

We were wondering where the Seoul City Wall had gone. We knew to veer off for a short bit, but not this far. Soon, we found that we had taken a wrong turn when we came upon a posted map at a park. Luckily, we were able to take a winding road, uphill, and after a twenty-minute detour, we came back to the wall.

We saw a couple pretty Magpies along the way and also passed a sign for a very old university. The Magpies seemed to be all over South Korea, and though the picture doesn’t really show it, they are big!

Bukchon Hanok Village

The wall continues its way downhill until it meets Bukchon Hanok Village where the wall literally becomes a part of the town. From here, you can walk the city streets following the wall and see more of the local life. Bukchon Hanok is a town of particular importance as it has been preserved in its historical state – of around 600 years old. The town originally served as the residences of nobility and elites, but over the years, fire, war and various events have led the town to become inhabited by common residents. Wandering the streets is a great way to experience an authentic Korean way of life, that is often not present in super-modern Seoul.

Oddly, many of the homes we noticed were lined with huge spiked fences, barbed wire, and embedded glass shard walls. We aren’t sure why considering most of South Korea is pretty safe. It most likely stems from the tensions with North Korea and the militarized portions of the city wall. Regardless, Korean buildings and decorations, especially doors are enjoyable to look at. It is very easy to lose hours just wandering these streets, lost in the past.

We continued on until we came to the end of our walk, the Hyehwamun Gate. The gate seems to appear out of nowhere in within Hanok village, but it is a very good landmark by which to end your hike.

Closing The Day

At this point, we were feeling pretty worn, so we hopped on the metro Hansung University Station which was just a few hundred feet from the gate, and proceeded home.

We only took a short stretch of the wall – the northern stretch. However, if you’re feeling up to it, you can hike the entirety of the wall, which comes out to about 27 km. It will take you all the way around the city, and to other notable landmarks as well. The N Seoul Tower is connected to the wall on the southern end as well.

We recommend you take our route because it begins with a short steep climb, and the rest slopes gently down. Otherwise, you’ll have a long uphill climb, with a very short steep downhill. It will probably be easier on your legs the way we went. Also, in our opinion, it is easier to try to figure out the bus system on the way there and then hop on the easier to navigate metro at the end, than the other way around – getting lost on a bus at night is a lot more stressful than missing your stop in the day.

Prepare For Your Hike

Even though the city wall is right in the city – or surrounding it rather – this is definitely a hike. As such, you should prepare for it just as you would any other hike. As time has gone by, we have come to find a bunch of great items to ensure that any hike will turn out great. So before you try your hand as the trail, be sure you are ready!

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• Travel Pack – Carrying the right pack can make a huge difference when out and about. Our ultimate guide to choosing a travel pack will help ensure you get off on the right foot.
• Water Bottles – Collapsible Water Bottles – These are some of our favorite items to bring with us. They’re really light-weight and you can also roll them up so you can store them away easily. If there is one item that is most important to bring with you, it is water.
• Hiking Clothes – It can be really tempting to just throw on your regular day clothes and march out on the trail, and I won’t lie, we’ve done this more often than not. But more and more, we’re finding that putting some thought into what you wear on the trail can really improve your experience. On this hike, we went in the winter, but South Korea is notorious for getting hot, and the sun can be deceptively brutal. But with the proper gear, you can easily solve that. A recent addition to my wardrobe has made a big difference so that I can be protected and comfortable. For him | For her
• Headlamps – Getting caught on the trail at dark can be frightening, or downright deadly depending on the location. You’re unlikely to run into that problem on the city wall, but still, you want to be safe. We’ve gotten caught in the dark on trails that went longer than expected, and we’ve intentionally entered caves – in all cases, headlamps are essential so that you can see where you’re going and keep your hands free. Foxelli Headlamp Flashlight
• First-aid Kit – You really need to be prepared for anything when hiking, which means you need to be prepared for injury. We don’t often get hurt, but we have. You never know what could happen so you should always carry a basic first aid kit to be able to patch up whatever may happen. First-Aid Kit
• Bug Repellant – We were lucky that at the time of year we hiked, there were no bugs. But South Korea certainly gets mosquitos for a good portion of the year. We like these wipes because we can wipe any exposed spots without having to spray noxious fumes. Off! Deep Woods Towelettes

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