Seoul: Walking the Old City Wall

The Seoul City Wall was built in the 14-century. In the past 30 years the "fortress wall" has been restored and revitalized with a 18.7 km well-traveled walking trail atop and beside the wall. Parts of the northern and western walls that had been closed or restricted due to security concerns are wide open with lessened restriction policy for Bukaksan so new that the signage was not update when we passed through on April 18, 2019.

Lonely Planet recommends starting at the Great East Gate (Dongdaemum)and walking counter-clockwise in order to be fresh when walking over Bukaksan Peak (342m/1125ft) and Inwangsan Peak (338m/1108ft). So that's what we did although after more than 4 months on the road we were not even close to fresh when we started the walk. Haha.

We could not just "start" at Great East Gate. My father had taken a photo of that same gate in 1954, so I had to attempt to capture the same angle which was not so easy as there is much more traffic now.

First 1954. Check out the green+yellow trolleys.

In 2019 there are green buses but I did not get a good shot with a green bus. Next time.


Looking back down to the East Gate with the futuristic Dongdaemun Design Plaza behind (look for low white blobs with a brown patch on top0.


Off we go.


It's a bit tricky to follow the trail along the wall as sometimes you walk on top, sometimes beside on the outside, sometimes beside on the inside. Often one can choose which side to walk on, but only one of the trails is part of the circumnavigation trail, the other ends.


But it's almost always "up" with good views. Here's looking south towards the Lotte Tower.


A neighborhood just outside the wall.


Cafe with a view, but closed today.


Looking north.


Looking south.


Outside the wall.


The wall has 4 big gates and 4 small gates. This is one of the small gates.




From this point we can see the 3km section of wall that is inside a military base. We brought our passports in order to get the permit required to walk that section.


A local man befriended us for several kilometers.


From this viewpoint one can see the grounds of Gyeongbokgung Palace (middle left) and a camouflaged building on the military base (middle right).


Well, it turns out neither passports nor permits are now needed - a recent change - to walk the 3.2 km section of the wall that is inside the military base. There is an information booth where they give you a lanyard to put around your neck. Sheesh. But there are still restrictions on photography and wired plainclothes security every few hundred meters.


Heading up, still inside the base, to Bukaksan (342m).


View from Bukaksan down to Gyeongbokgung Palace.




Another view down to Gyeongbokgung Palace.


Looking back to Inwangsan Peak (338m).


And finally a view from Inwangsan Peak down to Gyeongbokgung Palace.


After 13kms we were ready to get off the wall and head to a vegetarian buffet we had checked out the previous day. But first, let's take the left fork of the trail.


Hangwachae Vegan All-You-Can-Eat Buffet = Delicious!

Seoul: Day Trip to Uijeongbu

When my father was in the U.S. Army 1954 he was stationed near Uijeongbu 의정부시, a city 12 miles north of Seoul ie towards the border with North Korea. So of course we had to go there. Uijeongbu, then a village, now has a population of over 450,000.

Although we could not walk to Uijeongbu from our guesthouse, we did the next best thing and rode the subway to the Dobong Mountain Station and hiked from there over the mountains to Uijeongbu City Hall, a total of only 12kms , but it took us 8hrs. And rode the subway from Uijeongbu Station back to Seoul.

I usually put the GPS track at the end of the walk, but here it makes sense to put it first. We started in the south, at the subway station, walked north to Uijeongbu. Our highest point was Mount Dobong at 732 meters.


View from Dobongsan Metro Station to Moutnt Dobong.


Instead of a souvenir gauntlet from the station to the trailhead, there was a outdoor gear and apparel store gauntlet. Oh my! There must have been over 100 small shops.




Mount Dobong is located in Bukhansan National Park.


Beautiful day for a walk.






We pass a Buddhist Temple.


Lunch break with a view south to Seoul and the Lotte World Tower (barely visible in the haze) which is a 123-floor, 555-metre (1,821 ft) supertall skyscraper. It's the tallest building in South Korea, the 5th tallest in the world.


And up, up.


View from the summit of Mount Dobong at 726 meters (~2400 ft).


This hiker stepped in front of me to take a selfie right as I was snapping. Hmmmm.


Another view, to the southwest, from the summit. From here the trail forks north and south along a ridge. We headed north towards Uijeongbu.




Map with north to the right.




We took the detour.


Surprised to see a helicopter emergency landing pad. Guess it's needed.


Walking north on the ridge trail with a view to the valley between Seoul and Uijeongbu with railroad and highway.


Getting our first look at Uijeongbu. The hut at far left is manned by the National Park.


Looking northeast towards Uijeongbu.


Spring flowering trees/shrubs.


After a long slog north on the ridge trail - there were a few tricky ups-and-downs and at several places the trail was very hard to follow - we come down to a Buddhist Temple at the edge of Uijeongbu.


The city of Uijeongbu has completed a new walking course with signage, bridges, information, and toilets. We follow it to City hall.








City Hall.


The new-ish elevated light rail to goes right by the City Hall and connects to both the Uijeongbu subway station, and train station.


My father may have stood here 65 years ago.


And here is John Sr in 1954.




We walk to Uijeongbu Station; about 10 minutes east.


Cross a tributary that flows south to the Han River in Seoul.


Skyscraper.




More Uijeongbu.


Back in Seoul near our guesthouse.


Sun-Ling cooks dinner after a long, rewarding day of walking.