Daedunsan Provincial Park

Daedunsan is 878 metres of broken granite on the boundary between Chungnam and Jeonbuk, and two structures make it famous. The Geumgang Gureumdari is a suspension bridge fifty metres long slung between two rock pinnacles about eighty metres above the gully, swaying as people cross it. Beyond it the Samseon Gyedan is a steel stairway of over a hundred and twenty steps pinned to the rock at an angle steep enough that it reads as a ladder, climbing straight up the face - people regularly stop partway, and there is a bypass path for those who decide against it. A cable car takes visitors most of the way up from the base, which is why the bridge sees far more traffic than the mountain otherwise would. Above the stairway the trail continues over rock to Machaeobong, the summit, with ridge views over both provinces. Autumn is the peak season and the queues are real.

What you actually see

• The cloud bridge - the suspension span between two pinnacles.
• The Samseon stairway - the near-vertical steel ladder.
• The cable car - the lift from the base to the rock.
• The summit ridges - views over Chungnam and Jeonbuk.

When to go

May to June and October. Autumn weekends bring long queues at the cable car, the bridge and the stairway - go on a weekday if you can.

Honest expectations

The bridge and stairway are exposed and are not for anyone uneasy with heights; both bottleneck badly. They close in high wind and ice. Cable car and structures are charged on top of park entry.

Nearby

Daejeon is an hour north; Jeonju is south in Jeonbuk.