Hanbando Cliff

At Seonam-ri the Pyeongchanggang loops back on itself so tightly that the promontory left inside the bend has a coastline resembling the Korean peninsula - east coast comparatively straight, west coast indented, a taper at the south, even a lump in roughly the right place for the Taebaek range. The resemblance is genuinely close, which is why it appears in textbooks and on tourist material, and the local name is Hanbando Jihyeong, peninsula topography. Viewing it means a walk of about 1.2 kilometres from the car park along a wooded path with a steady climb, ending at a railed deck on the cliff edge with the whole meander below. There is a rafting operation on the river beneath. The walk takes twenty minutes each way and is manageable for most people, though the last stretch has steps. Morning light works best; in autumn the surrounding slopes turn.

The landscape

• The peninsula shape - the meander's outline from the deck.
• The woodland path - the 1.2 km walk in from the car park.
• The river below - rafts on the Pyeongchanggang.
• The autumn slopes - colour around the bend in October.

When to go

April to June and September to November; morning light is best on the bend. Mist in the valley on cold mornings adds to it.

Things to know

There is no road to the viewpoint - it is a twenty-minute walk each way with steps at the end. The deck is small and crowds at weekends. In summer haze the outline reads less clearly.

Nearby

Cheongnyeongpo is in the same district; Yeongwol town and Jangneung are 15 km away.