Sanbangsan Mountain

Sanbangsan is a lava dome - viscous lava that pushed up and congealed rather than flowing, leaving a steep bell of rock 395 metres high standing alone above the coastal plain, one of the older volcanic features on Jeju and quite unlike the gentle oreum cones elsewhere on the island. Its cliffs carry rare plant communities and climbing it is prohibited. What visitors do instead is climb a long flight of steps to Sanbangglus, a natural cave in the cliff face about halfway up, which holds a small Buddhist shrine; water drips continuously from the cave roof and is caught and drunk, and the local story explains it as the tears of a mountain spirit. From the cave mouth the view runs over the plain, the Yongmeori headland below and out to Songaksan and the islands. At the foot are Bomunsa and Sanbangsa temples and a large seated Buddha. The steps are the effort - several hundred of them, steep and exposed.

What you actually see

• The lava dome - the bell of rock standing above the plain.
• The grotto shrine - the cave temple in the cliff face.
• The dripping spring - water caught inside the cave.
• The coastal view - Yongmeori and the islands from the mouth.

When to go

April to June and September to November. Mornings before the coach tours. The steps are punishing in summer heat.

Honest expectations

It is several hundred steep steps to the grotto with no shade - the main physical demand. Climbing the dome itself is prohibited. Ticketed separately from Yongmeori below.

Nearby

Yongmeori coast is directly below; Songaksan and the Marado ferry are along the coast.