Wondaeri Birch Forest

The birch forest at Wondae-ri is not natural: the Forest Service planted around seven hundred thousand white birch here in the early 1990s on land cleared of pine after a beetle infestation, and it grew into something the planners did not expect - a hillside of pale straight trunks with almost nothing between them, which in a country of dense mixed forest looks foreign, and which photographs so distinctively that the place became a destination on its own. Getting there is a 3.2-kilometre walk up a gravel forest road from the gate, taking about an hour with a steady climb; no cars are allowed beyond the barrier, and that filter keeps the grove quieter than its fame suggests. Inside are marked trails through the trunks, a couple of birch-bark shelters and benches. It closes on certain days of the week and seasonally for fire risk in spring and autumn, so checking before driving out matters.

What you actually see

• The birch grove - pale trunks in ranks up the hillside.
• The forest road - the 3.2 km walk in from the gate.
• The trail loops - marked paths through the trees.
• The winter version - snow between white trunks.

When to go

May to June for leaf and light, October for gold, winter for snow. Check the opening calendar - it closes on set weekdays and during dry-season fire closures.

Honest expectations

It is an hour's walk each way on a gravel road and there is no transport in. The grove is planted, not wild. Closures are frequent and enforced. Facilities are toilets at the gate.

Nearby

Inje and the Naerincheon valley are close; Seoraksan is east over the passes.