Seoraksan National Park | Cable Car + Hike to Gwongeumseong Fortress

If you can’t tell by the shoes I’m wearing, we weren’t really anticipating hiking after our cable car ride to the top of Gwongeumseong Fortress. We had just finished hiking Seoraksan’s popular Ulsanbawi Course, and after a quick  break to change into shorts, eat a late lunch, and gulp down ice cold drinks, we decided that we still had time for another excursion. The cable car to sounded easy enough, and unlike may other trams we have taken in the past (Vancouver, I’m looking at you), didn’t cost us an arm and a leg.

I read that the wait time to ride the cable car can be as long as two hours long (hell no), but luckily for us, we didn’t have to wait at all. After purchasing our tickets we rushed upstairs just in time to catch the only operating cable car as it made its way back down the mountain.

The ride up was beautiful though perhaps the tiniest bit anticlimactic since we had just come down off another peak earlier in the day. Our cable car emptied us off in a multilevel cafe/gift shop with panoramic views. Following the crowds we made our way outside to the viewing platform to take some photos. As I surveyed the area, I wondered where we Gwongeumseong Fortress was hiding. Were we missing something? Wasn’t the cable car supposed to dump us right off at the fortress?

And then I saw a small trail, leading up even more steps, where a steady stream of hikers disappeared into the forest and our hearts sunk.  Damn. We did not feel like hiking at all, no matter what the distance, but then we had come all this way. Our legs were dead tired, but we trudged on.

I’m glad we did.

mandatory mountaintop selfies

Not too shabby, Gwongeumseong, not too shabby at all.

In actuality, the hike from the cable car to Gwongeumseong Fortress took maybe 15 minutes, though there were steps and inclines involved which made it feel about 50x longer when hiked with already-weary legs. The fortress, circa 1253 A.D. was built to fend of Mongolian invaders. Now all that remains is a crumbling stone wall. I’m no war tactician but why would invaders attack at a point so high in the mountains? Wouldn’t the mountains themselves have provided a natural physical barrier? Or was this some secret back route that the Mongolians liked to take?  Also, Koreans should have probably worried less about the Mongolians and more about the Japanese…jus’ saying. Anyway, all my questions would have probably been answered if we even bothered to read the billboard of informative text – a billboard that we couldn’t be bothered to read because it was about 20 steps uphill and by then we were absolutely sure we were done with hiking.

There looked to be a lot more to explore up the rocky hill (like the aforementioned crumbling fortress walls), but we were content to walk downhill for once, to an out-of-the-way rock with an amazing view of the valley below. Yeah, we were good here.

PS: Sly almost lost his flip flop while dangling his legs over the edge.

DETAILS

Seorak Sogongwon Cable Car  (설악 케이블카) | COST: ~$9, adult | DESCRIPTION:  If you have very limited time, or are feeling lazy, then the cable car is a great way to see the park from high above. There are a couple cafes at the top (one sells hotteok!) as well as a large, outdoor viewing platform. Even if you don’t want to hike beyond this point, then it’s worth coming up and bringing a picnic lunch. At the back and to the right of the cable car building, there is a trail that leads up to Gwongeumseong Fortress. It’s about a 10-15 minute, pretty easy, moderately inclined, hike. Once you reach the fortress, you can continue climbing up and around the rock. We read that they close the cable car if/when the weather gets a bit shady and that in the past, people have been forced to hike down the mountain. I have no idea how one would do that considering that the cable car website states there are no trails back down the mountain. Eco-toilets (non-flushing) can be found at the top of the mountain.  | VERDICT: Worth it, though I probably wouldn’t wait two hours in line.