As the weather gets warmer, it is the time to dust off those hiking shoes and discover the great outdoors once again. Located directly behind Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Blue House, Baegaksan offers about a 3 hour hike along the Seoul wall.

Public access to this section of the wall was closed to the public for 40 years after North Korean special forces make their way over towards to the Blue House (presidential residence) in 1968. This area was opened in 2020 back to the public and in 2022, the whole route was opened.

I started on the east side at Hyehwamun Gate and made my way west. The reason for starting at this end will be apparent by the end of this blog post!

Getting away from the crowds is always great, particularly in Seoul. I always enjoy the peace and views from the northern part of Seoul. Not many spring buds had appeared yet when I was did this walk however there were signs of them all starting. Spring unfortunately here, coincides with some pretty bad days of pollution. The air quality has been terrible since the cold disappeared.

Halfway through, there will be a pine tree with bullet holes which were from the 1968 incident. Pictures around this area are also restricted in one direction of the wall as it’s still a military area. There is signage alerting visitors to this.

The part that I like best about walking along the Seoul wall are the Korea pine trees everywhere! They’re hardy and green all year round.

The decent down included all these stairs which is why I started on the other side. If stairs are your thing, by all means start on the west side! This section of the wall is not open 24 hours so I advise to try and finish before 5pm (earlier in winter). I didn’t make note of the closing time and haven’t been able to find the information online.