Bijarim Forest

Bijarim holds something over two thousand eight hundred bija - Torreya nucifera, the Japanese nutmeg yew - in a single stand covering around forty hectares, which makes it the largest concentration of the species anywhere and a designated natural monument. The trees are old: most are several hundred years, the oldest are estimated at around eight hundred, and the biggest, Bijanamu the grandfather tree, stands apart with a trunk several metres round. The paths are laid with scoria, the red-brown volcanic gravel of Jeju, which is soft underfoot and drains instantly - the whole forest is walked on it in a loop of a couple of kilometres, flat and easy. Under the trees are ferns and epiphytes and a dense green shade that keeps the temperature down in summer. The nuts were once harvested for oil and as a vermifuge. It is a quiet, undramatic place and it works best walked slowly.

What you actually see

• The old yews - several thousand trees, some eight centuries old.
• The grandfather tree - the largest, standing apart.
• The scoria paths - soft red volcanic gravel underfoot.
• The green shade - ferns and epiphytes under the canopy.

When to go

Year-round; the shade is welcome in summer and the forest holds up in rain, which Jeju gets a lot of. Mornings are quietest.

Honest expectations

It is a flat, gentle forest walk with no views or dramatic features - the appeal is the trees and the quiet. Ticketed. Staying on the paths is required to protect the root systems.

Nearby

Sangumburi and Geomunoreum are close; Woljeongri and the eastern coast are north.