Quiet Korea · Jeongseon, Gangwon · Temples & Mountains

Duwibong: A Mountain with Four Faces

It stands about as high as Sobaeksan, one of Korea's best-loved peaks, but sees a fraction of the hikers. The forest changes as you climb, and on its flank grows a yew more than 1,400 years old. It is the mountain I return to most often.

Beside the Duwibong summit post, rime-covered shrubs and snowy rocks open onto winter ridges under a hazy sun

Location: Jeongseon County, Gangwon
Height: 1,466 m
Trailheads: Dangok Valley · Jamiwon · Jamutgol · Dosagok Forest
Shortest climb: Dangok Valley · 1 h 30 min up
Difficulty: Moderate
Natural monument: The Duwibong yews

A big mountain without the crowds

Duwibong 두위봉 rises to 1,466 m between the towns of Sindong and Sabuk in Jeongseon County. Its broad, rounded shape earned it a local nickname, Duribong, “the round peak,” and it appears in the verses of Jeongseon Arirang, the region's famous folk song. It is close in height to Sobaeksan, yet outside azalea-season weekends you may meet only a handful of other hikers on the ridge all day.

The summit area is a soft ridge covered in low shrubs. Starting from the valleys below, you pass through broadleaf forest, birches and, higher up, groves of yew, and you can feel the forest change with every few hundred metres of height.

A snowy path winds between rime-covered shrubs along the winter ridge, with a rounded peak and snow-covered highland fields beyond — The winter ridge. The path runs between shrubs coated in rime.

Four ways up

Trails reach the summit from four directions. By the county's trail map, the climb takes between an hour and a half and four hours forty minutes.

Simplified from the Jeongseon County trail map; not to scale. Times are for the climb from each trailhead to the summit.

Course 1, Dangok Valley, 1 h 30 min. The shortest and most used route. From the Dangok Valley parking lot it passes Gamnosu Spring and a junction before reaching the summit. The azalea festival is held in this area.
Course 3, Jamiwon, 2 h. Starts from the Mungok-ri trailhead near Jamiwon Station on the Taebaek Line, so you can arrive by train and start walking.
Course 4, Jamutgol, 2 h 20 min. A quiet climb up a side valley, past Jeoksangol and Saemgol.
Course 2, Dosagok Forest, 4 h 40 min. The longest route, and the one that passes the grove of ancient yews. Spend the night at the recreation forest and set off early.

A trail signpost among pink azaleas and fresh leaves, showing distances to Jamutgol, Jamiwon Station and Dangok Valley

The same signpost among rime-covered branches under a deep blue winter sky

The same signpost at a ridge junction, in late May and in midwinter.

A reason for every season

Spring: Azaleas. At this height the flowers come late. From mid to late May the ridge turns pink, and an azalea festival is held around Dangok Valley.
Summer: Cold water. The stream in Dangok Valley is so cold that even in midsummer it is hard to keep your hand in it. Soaking your feet after the descent is the reward for a summer climb.
Autumn: Color. The shrubs on the summit ridge turn red first, and in the mornings cloud often fills the valleys below.
Winter: Rime. Moist wind crossing the ridge freezes onto every twig as rime ice. A white forest under a blue sky is the sight that only a Duwibong winter gives you.

Beyond a rock edge and pink azaleas, a sea of clouds stretches to the horizon with a single peak rising above it — A sea of clouds on an azalea-season morning.

Red and gold shrubs and a grey rock outcrop in front of a green ridge, with cloud filling distant valleys under feathery cirrus — The summit ridge in autumn. The shrubs turn first.

A tunnel of rime-covered branches against a deep blue sky in the winter forest

A small ceramic monk figurine set on a frosted rock, with the white frozen ridge behind it

The rime forest in winter.

Turn the sound on. Each gust sets the rime-covered branches swaying and rustling.

Above the clouds

Duwibong often sits above a sea of clouds. Reach the summit at dawn on the right day and the valleys of Jeongseon disappear under white, leaving only distant peaks floating like islands.

But the sea of clouds only comes when you are lucky. It forms most often at dawn after a cold, still, humid night, yet even then many mornings turn out completely clear, or the summit itself sits inside the cloud. The cloud photos on this page were gathered over many years of climbs. Don't climb expecting it; treat it as a bonus if it appears and you won't be disappointed.

A hiker with trekking poles across his shoulders stands on a rock, looking out over an endless sea of clouds with a peak rising above it — One of the lucky mornings.

In low golden light, cloud flows down the valleys below the ridge, with one peak rising above it in the distance — Cloud flowing through the valleys.

A bright sun over an endless sea of clouds, with frosted shrubs in the foreground

A direction sign reading Jeongseon County, Sindong-eup against a sea of clouds

Left: a winter morning above the clouds. Right: the Sindong-eup direction sign near the summit.

A yew 1,400 years old

East of the summit, on the trail up from Dosagok Forest, three yews protected as a Korean natural monument stand about 30 m apart. The oldest is estimated to be more than 1,400 years old and is counted as the longest-lived tree in Korea. It took root around the time of the Silla kingdom and has stood in the same wind ever since. Please admire it from a few steps back and keep off its roots.

An old yew among fresh spring leaves, with the forest service's information board in front — The information board at the yew grove.

Reading the forest

The forest changes as you gain height. One tree worth looking for is the Korean bronze birch, geojesu 거제수나무. It belongs to the birch family, but its bark is a glossy coppery brown rather than white, and it peels away in thin, papery layers. When the sun catches it, the bark shines almost like metal. In winter the fine twigs of the same forest gather rime, and white trees stand in rows against the blue sky.

Coppery bark of a bronze birch peeling in thin papery layers, against a blue sky

Rime-tipped birch branches under a blue winter sky

Left: bronze birch bark. Right: the rime forest in winter.

Visiting

By car: Search “단곡2교 주차장” (Dangok 2 Bridge parking lot) or “두위봉 단곡계곡” in Naver Map or Kakao Map. During the azalea festival, free temporary parking opens around Dangok Valley.
By train: Get off at Jamiwon Station 자미원역 on the Taebaek Line and walk to the Mungok-ri trailhead nearby. Few trains stop there, so check the timetable first. You can also take a taxi to a trailhead from Mindungsan Station.
Where to stay: Dosagok Recreation Forest 도사곡자연휴양림 makes an early start easy.

Check before you go. Some trails may close during the spring and autumn wildfire-prevention periods. In winter the ridge is bitterly cold with the wind and the snow can be deep, so bring microspikes and proper cold-weather gear.

A hiker in silhouette beside the summit signpost, looking out over winter ridges against the sun — On the summit.

JeongseonGangwonYewRime iceSea of cloudsAll seasons