Yongnuni Oreum

Oreum are the small parasitic volcanic cones that dot Jeju - there are around three hundred and sixty of them, thrown up on the flanks of Hallasan, and they are the island's real landscape once you leave the coast. Yongnuni is one of the most walked: a grassy cone of around eighty metres above the surrounding fields with a horseshoe crater, reached in twenty to thirty minutes on a path and then followed round the rim, where the grass is grazed short and the view opens over the eastern oreum field with cones in every direction and Seongsan Ilchulbong and the sea beyond. The name is usually explained as dragon's lying shape or dragon's eye, depending on who is telling it. Horses graze on the slopes. It is on private and communal land, and access has been restricted at times to let the grass recover, so checking before driving out is worthwhile. There is no shade and the wind is constant.

What you actually see

• The grassy cone - the short climb up the flank.
• The horseshoe crater - the rim walk round the top.
• The oreum field - dozens of cones across eastern Jeju.
• The grazing horses - stock on the slopes.

When to go

April to June and September to November; the grass is greenest in early summer and gold in autumn. Mornings for clear views to Ilchulbong.

Honest expectations

Access is sometimes closed for grass recovery - check before travelling. There is no shade or shelter and the wind is strong. Public transport does not reach the trailhead usefully.

Nearby

Seongsan Ilchulbong and Seopjikoji are east; Sangumburi and Bijarim are west.