Hiking Hallasan, Jeju: Complete Summit Trail Guide
South Korea's highest peak, climbed the classic way — up the long Seongpanak forest trail and down Gwaneumsa's dramatic ridge to a frozen crater at the top of Jeju.
Hallasan is the whole reason Jeju has a skyline. At 1,947 m it's the highest point in South Korea — a dormant shield volcano with a crater, Baengnokdam ("white deer lake"), sitting right at the summit. We'd built our whole Jeju trip around climbing it, and the best way to do that is a traverse: up one summit trail and down the other, so you never retrace a step.
We went in late January, with snow on the upper mountain — up the Seongpanak trail (the longer, gentler one) and down Gwaneumsa (shorter, steeper, far more dramatic). It's a big winter day, roughly 18 km and about nine hours, with a hard cut-off time you have to beat to be allowed onto the summit. But it never gets technical: if you can keep walking uphill for a few hours and you've got microspikes on your boots, you can do this.
The honest part the photos leave out: the forest plod up Seongpanak is long and a little monotonous, and the snow turned the Gwaneumsa stairs into a slow, careful descent. But standing on the rim of a frozen crater at the top of an island, with the whole of Jeju falling away below, is one of those views you stop trying to photograph and just look at. Here's how to do it right.
- Summit
- Baengnokdam crater, 1,947 m (highest in South Korea)
- Our route
- Up Seongpanak (9.6 km) · down Gwaneumsa (8.7 km)
- Total distance
- ~18.3 km point-to-point
- Time
- ~9 hours including breaks (winter pace)
- Difficulty
- Hard but non-technical — long and stair-heavy
- Reservation
- Free timed online booking (rules change — check first)
- Cut-off
- Pass the mid-mountain shelter by ~12:00
The Short Version
If you read nothing else: only two trails reach the true summit — Seongpanak and Gwaneumsa — and the move is to go up Seongpanak (gentler) and down Gwaneumsa (steeper, more scenic). Book your free summit slot online ahead of time, start by 8 a.m. so you clear the mid-mountain shelter before the ~12:00 cut-off, and in winter put microspikes on early. Budget about nine hours for the full ~18 km traverse, and plan your transport back from the Gwaneumsa end before you start, because it's a point-to-point hike.
Choosing Your Trail: Seongpanak vs Gwaneumsa
Reaching the Baengnokdam crater is only possible on two of Hallasan's trails: Seongpanak and Gwaneumsa. The other famous routes — Eorimok and Yeongsil — are gorgeous, but they top out at the Witse Oreum shelter around 1,700 m and do not continue to the summit. If the crater is your goal, it's these two or nothing.
- Seongpanak (9.6 km) is the longer trail but the gentlest gradient — mostly forest, boardwalk, and long stair sections. The easiest way up.
- Gwaneumsa (8.7 km) is shorter but much steeper, with bridges, ridgelines, and the best scenery on the mountain. Brutal as a climb; spectacular — and knee-testing — as a descent.
Going up Seongpanak and down Gwaneumsa is the classic combination, and we'd do it again every time: you get the easier ascent while your legs are fresh and save the dramatic views for the way down.
Reservations and the All-Important Cut-Off Times
Hallasan's summit trails have been capped and reservation-controlled since 2020 — a free timed online booking, with daily limits of 1,000 hikers on Seongpanak and 500 on Gwaneumsa, scanned as a QR code at the trailhead. When we hiked, we booked a free slot online a few days ahead.
One thing to know: Jeju ran a reservation-free trial in late 2024, and the rules have wobbled since — so check the official Hallasan booking site before your trip rather than trusting any blog (this one included) on the current status.
Whatever the booking rules, the cut-off times are the real gatekeeper. You generally can't start up the summit trails after ~11:30 a.m., you must reach the mid-mountain shelter (Jindallaebat on Seongpanak) by around 12:00, and you have to be off the summit by ~13:30 in winter.
The Climb Up Seongpanak
The Seongpanak trail starts in dense forest and stays gentle for a long time — much of it is boardwalk and low stone steps winding through trees, more long slog than lung-buster. In winter the boardwalk was packed snow and ice; our microspikes went on early and stayed on. You pass the Sokbat shelter (toilets, a place to rest) partway up, and there's a short spur to the Sara Oreum crater viewpoint if your legs are willing.
The trail's checkpoint is the Jindallaebat shelter — the last point you must pass before the cut-off to continue. In late spring these slopes are famous for blooming royal azaleas; in January it was a white bowl with a snack hut. Above Jindallaebat the forest finally falls away and the final push is open, stair-heavy, and fully exposed to a wind that, on our day, was cold enough to freeze the water in our bottles.
The Summit: Baengnokdam Crater
The top is the Baengnokdam crater — a wide bowl ringed by the summit, with a shallow seasonal lake that in winter was a flat sheet of ice and snow rather than open water. There's a stone summit marker (1,947 m) and, on any decent day, a queue to photograph it, because everyone on the mountain converges here inside the same cut-off window. It is brutally cold and windy at the top even when it was calm at the trailhead — this is where every layer you carried finally goes on.
We gave it about twenty minutes — long enough to walk the rim, eat something with gloved hands, and take in the fact that we were standing on the highest point in the country, on a frozen lake, having walked up from sea-level palm trees a few hours earlier. That contrast is the whole point of Hallasan.
The Descent Down Gwaneumsa
Gwaneumsa is the scenic, brutal-on-the-knees side. Coming down you finally get the views Seongpanak hides — jagged ridgelines, deep valleys, and the Wangkwanneung crags — strung together by endless steel-and-timber stairs and the Yongjin bridge (Yongjingyo) spanning a gorge near the Samgakbong shelter. In snow it was slow going: every step iced, microspikes earning their money. It's relentlessly downhill and feels far longer than its 8.7 km, and by the bottom our knees were done — but it's the half of the day we'll actually remember.
What to Pack for Hallasan
The kit list is short but it matters, because the mountain is exposed and there's nothing up there to bail you out:
- Water — 1.5–2 L each. Don't count on refills; in winter, keep a bottle inside your jacket so it doesn't freeze (ours did).
- Real insulating layers and a windproof shell. The summit is far colder and windier than the trailhead — this is the kit that makes or breaks the day.
- Microspikes or crampons in winter. The upper mountain is solid ice; we wouldn't have got up Seongpanak or safely down Gwaneumsa without them.
- Proper hiking boots with grip, and trekking poles — your knees will thank you on the Gwaneumsa descent.
- Food and snacks — it's a nine-hour day and there's no real food on the mountain.
Travelling carry-on only and wondering how all this fits? Our guide to packing light for trips like this covers it.
Getting to the Trailheads
Hallasan is a point-to-point hike, so plan the return before you start.
- To the start (Seongpanak): bus #281 runs from Jeju City to the Seongpanak trailhead in roughly 40 minutes — the simplest option, and what we took.
- From the finish (Gwaneumsa): the Gwaneumsa trailhead is quieter — bus #475 connects it back toward Jeju City on limited daily services, or take a taxi (we did; the signal was patchy but it came).
Is Hiking Hallasan Worth It?
Yes — it's the highest point in South Korea, and the frozen-crater payoff plus the Gwaneumsa ridgelines make it the standout day on Jeju, as long as you're up for a long, stair-heavy walk. In winter the snow makes it more beautiful and more serious in equal measure.
How Hard Is the Hallasan Hike?
Hard but not technical — no scrambling and no exposure, just ~18 km and about nine hours with a lot of stairs and a cut-off time to beat. Regular walkers manage it with breaks; winter adds microspikes and a slower, more careful pace. The smartest move on a tough day is to keep an eye on the clock and turn back at the shelter if you won't make the cut-off — the mountain will still be there.
When Is the Best Time to Hike Hallasan?
Autumn (October) for foliage and late spring (late May–June) for the Jindallaebat azaleas are the classic picks. Winter — our trip — is the most dramatic, but it needs microspikes and full warm layers. Summer is green but hot and often wet. Whatever the season, start early: the cut-off times don't move.
Do You Need a Permit to Hike Hallasan?
When we went, the summit trails needed a free timed online reservation, with daily caps of 1,000 on Seongpanak and 500 on Gwaneumsa. A reservation-free trial ran in late 2024, so check the official Hallasan booking site before your trip. Either way, the midday summit cut-off applies — see the reservations section above.
Hallasan is the centrepiece of any Jeju trip, and a fine introduction to hiking in South Korea — browse the rest of our South Korea travel guide as the cluster grows. If big-view summit days are your thing, we chase the same feeling on Roy's Peak in New Zealand, across the four must-do hikes in Hong Kong, and on the vertical, otherworldly trails of one day in Zhangjiajie.
The bottom line: Hallasan rewards people who respect it. Book your free summit slot (and double-check the current rules), start by 8 a.m. so you beat the midday cut-off, carry real warm layers and — in winter — microspikes, and plan your ride home from the Gwaneumsa end before you set off. Do that, and you'll stand on a frozen crater at the highest point in South Korea, then walk down the most beautiful trail on the island. It's the best day on Jeju, and it's worth the early alarm.
