Hiking Seoraksan in Autumn – Trail to Yukdam Waterfall and Biryong Waterfall

12 November 2014

This was our last day at the Seoraksan National park and we planned to do a relatively easy trail to the Biryong Waterfall in the morning, followed by a visit to Sokcho town in the afternoon.

From our breakfast table in the Kensington Stars Hotel, we could see that the weather was quite different from the past 2 days. Although it was a bright sunny day, strong gust of winds were blowing and the Seoraksan Cable Car was not in operation.

We took about 5 minutes to walk from the hotel to the entrance of the park. We could see leaves raining down from above and swirling on the ground as we approached the park. I was glad we had done the Geumganggul Cave trail and taken the Cable Car up to Gwongeumseong walking course already in the past two days.

The start of the trail to the Biryong Waterfall is near the Cable Car Station. There was some construction taking place in that area and we had to walk through the construction area to get to a stone bridge ( Biryonggyo Bridge) that was the starting point of the trail.


Biryonggyo Bridge at the start of the trail to Biryong Waterfall. Ulsanbawi Rock can be seen in the background.

We crossed the bridge and started our 2.3 km walk to Biryong Waterfall. A nice view of Ulsanbawi Rock could be seen from across the bridge.

The initial part of the trail is quite flat and level along the banks of the river. Although the wind was quite gusty, we were walking on the lee-ward side of the mountain and not really affected by the strong wind blowing above us.
Turning right and going uphill, we soon came to a rest area with stalls selling food.

A cheery Ahjumma came to ask us if we were interested in the pajeon or vegetable pancake she was cooking. We declined but told her we would be back later, on our way out.

Food stalls long the trail to Yukdam Waterfall and Biryong Waterfall.

Gentle uphill trail leading to the first waterfall.

The trees seemed to be more bare on this trail.  We met groups of hikers. We could tell who were the Koreans and who were the visitors by their hiking gear.

Wooden bridge that we need to cross.

We soon came to a waterfall. It was quite small and not impressive. The rocky path continued uphill with the waterfall on our right. Lots of fallen leaves floating and swirling around in the stream below.

Rocky and slippery path next to the stream. The waterfall is just up ahead.

First waterfall on this trail. 

We then came to the next waterfall. There was a resting platform and also a suspension bridge where we could view the waterfall.

Suspension Bridge along the Biryong Fall Trail.

On the suspension bridge looking back.

Biryong Falls as seen from the suspension bridge.

We crossed the bridge and continued up a flight of metal stairs to the top of the waterfall.
Stairs leading to the top of the Biryong Falls.

Leaves waiting for their turn to glide down the chute at the top of the Biryong Falls.

The trail continues on a flat path hugging the stream till we came to a another small bridge. That was when we decided to turned back as the trail continued further uphill into the woods.



On the way back, we stopped at the food stall for a meal. We decided not to have the pajeon but ordered a simple “dried pollack hangover soup” dish or HaeJangGuk.


Perfect meal after a nice walk on a windy autumn morning.

After our simple meal, we made our way back to Sowongon area.  This was when we encountered very strong gusts of wind and were really glad we did all our walks on the past 2 days with better weather conditions.

Here is a video of the strong wind that day.

Trip planning: A hike like this at the Seoraksan National Park could be done as a day trip from Seoul too. Check out these Day Trip Packages from Seoul. It includes direct round trip transportation from Seoul to Seoraksan National Park, commentaries from English speaking guide.

If you are planning to stay a few days to hike the various trails at Mount Seorak National Park:

Kensington Stars Hotel is the hotel closest to the entrance of Seoraksan National Park and a few minutes walk to the park entrance. The bus terminal just outside the park provides convenient access to the nearby Sokcho city.

Beatles fans would be thrilled by the hotel’s Abbey Road Sky Lounge featuring some original Beatles memorabilia.

Check the latest availability and prices of this hotel.