16 November 2025
Having experienced the crowds at Japan’s Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, a chance to visit Korea’s massive bamboo forest without the crowds is not to be missed. Juknokwon (namely Bamboo Garden) is the most famous bamboo forest in South Korea and is certainly worth a visit.
Unlike the natural bamboo forest in Arashiyama, Juknokwon is a cultivated bamboo forest that is 310,000 square meters in size and was opened in 2005. Within the dense bamboo forest, there are many walking trails for those looking to enjoy peaceful walks close to nature and snapping photos without the crowds.
Located in Damyang, the Bamboo Garden is best accessed from the city of Gwangju by bus. The local bus 311 from Gwangju goes right to the entrance of the garden but the journey will take about an hour.
We planned to stay a couple of nights in Gwangju after visiting Jeonju. We left Jeonju Hanok Village early in the morning and caught the 8.10 AM express bus from Jeonju’s express bus terminal to Gwangju’s bus terminal.
Gwangju Bus Terminal, also known as U-Square, is Gwangju's main, modern transportation hub combining a large express bus terminal with extensive shopping, dining and entertainment. We left our luggage in the storage lockers within the bus terminal, planning to collect them after our day trip to Damyang. There were sufficient storage lockers for our 2 medium size suitcases.
The bus stop for the local bus 311 to Damyang is right outside U Square. This rather long bus stop serves many local buses, so we had to wait at the correct place. The signage was pretty clear. We saw several other tourists waiting for the same bus.
Unlike other local buses where we just tap our T-money card on the card readers when we board and alight, the grumpy driver demanded to know our destination when we boarded the bus so he could deduct the correct fare. I don’t speak Korean but fortunately, I know the name of the bamboo garden is called “Juk-nok-won” in Korean, so we were alright. The fare was 3700 KRW and I was extremely glad that our T-money cards, last used in 2014, still work!
Tip: If you don’t speak Korean, show the driver the printed name of Juknokwon (죽녹원).
We managed to get seats for the hour long bus ride. Bus 311 is a local bus that made many stops along the journey (including a stop at the Damyang Intercity Bus Terminal) but it took us right to the entrance of Juknokwon.
Since it was lunch time when we arrived, we decided to take our lunch first. We reckoned it would take us a couple of hours to explore the massive bamboo garden so it is better to fill our tummy first.
There are many restaurants next to the river that flowed on the south side of Juknokwon. Damyang is famous for its noodle dishes, evident by the fact that they have an entire street dedicated to it called Noodle Street.
We went to the nearest restaurant and had a simple lunch consisting of noodles and 2 hard boiled “herbal” eggs that had little or no herbal flavour.
Noodles in anchovy broth. 
The noodles, while tasty, have no meat protein in them. On hindsight, we should have ordered the set which came with some grilled fish or pork for 3000 KRW more per person. In any case, we enjoyed our simple lunch in this clean restaurant located by the river.
This bamboo forest is open all year round. Autumn is a nice time to visit as it is cooler and less humid.
Upon entry, we went to the Bonghwangru pavilion. There are maps showing the walking trails within the bamboo garden and also other attractions in Damyang such as the Metasequoia Road and Gwanbangjerim Forest.
There are 8 themed trails with fancy names such as the Good Luck Road, Meditation Road and Lover’s Lane. The trails intersected each other at various places so we could actually just wander in the general direction to the far end of the garden and then make our way back to entrance using other routes.
A device to test our age, based on the size of your tummy. 
There is even a local legend to learn at the bamboo forest.
According to legend, King Gyeongmun of the Silla was born with hideously large ears, like those of donkeys. He was forced to hide them under his hair and the only person who knew was his barber.
The barber was frustrated that he had to keep this secret. One day, he could not take it any more. He went to a bamboo forest and shouted out the secret “the king has donkey ears”, thinking no one will hear him. However, the wind carried the sound and spread the secret far and wide.
The story ended on a positive note that the king became a good listener to the concerns of his people and ruled his country well.
We took a break at a cafe located in a clearing. Besides hot coffee to go with our Snickers bar, we ordered a bamboo-flavoured ice-cream.
Overall, we had about 2.5 hours of fun exploring the trails and taking lots of photos within the bamboo forest.
Our day in Damyang was not just about visiting Juknokwon and trying their noodles. Just a few kilometers walk away from Juknokwon is the Damyang Metasequoia-lined Road. More about our visit to Damyang’s Metasequoia-lined Road in the next post.