Songnisan National Park

Songnisan - the mountain apart from the ordinary world - reaches 1,058 metres at Cheonwangbong in the middle of the country, and its ridges are granite domes and slabs above thick pine and oak. The way in passes through some of the best-preserved old pine forest in Korea, including Jeongipumsong, a pine beside the road said to have been given official court rank by a fifteenth-century king who was impressed when its branches lifted to let his palanquin through. At the foot of the mountain is Beopjusa, founded in 553 and one of the major temples of the country: it holds the Palsangjeon, a five-storey wooden pagoda that is the only one of its kind left in Korea, an iron cauldron large enough to have fed thousands of monks, stone lanterns and reliefs, and a thirty-three-metre gilt-bronze standing Buddha completed in the 1990s that dominates the courtyard. Ridge walks run several hours above.

What you actually see

• Beopjusa - the temple, its wooden pagoda and giant Buddha.
• Palsangjeon - the only five-storey wooden pagoda in the country.
• The old pines - the forest and the court-ranked tree.
• The granite ridges - the walking routes above the temple.

When to go

May to June and October. Autumn colour is excellent and busy; the temple is worth a visit in any season and can be done without the climb.

Honest expectations

Park fee applies whether or not you hike. The ridge routes are long and rocky. Beopjusa is a working monastery - dress modestly and keep quiet in the halls.

Nearby

Cheongju is an hour west; Daecheongho lake and Daejeon are south-west.