Jaeyaksan (재약산)

Finally, it was time for us to visit the Yeongnam Alps! After hearing for years about this awesome hiking destination in Gyeongsangnamdo, we now had the chance to check things out for ourselves, starting with an ascent of Jaeyaksan (재약산)!

A view of the golden grass prairies that top the plateaus of the Yeongnam Alps. This view is from the northern slopes of Jaeyaksan.

This mission got off to an insane start. Our chosen route up Jaeyaksan from the east featured multiple river crossings, which were navigated some more successfully than others! This was very quickly a (two) wet foot kind of hike!

A vertical image of a dramatic, long waterfall, found on the slopes of Jaeyaksan! — Fully chasing waterfalls

The rugged, stream-cut landscape of Jaeyaksan was wild. But so were the human attempts to tame it for pedestrian traffic! We encountered all kinds of construction projects: mainly stairs and bridges. And there were loads more to come, evidenced by bags of equipment left in clearings by helicopters.

In this strange image, an unfinished bridge appears to be currently under construction overhead. Below, the broken remains of an older model lie scattered on the ground, tumbled over boulders and partially submerged in a stream. — Options?

There was even a broken suspension bridge lying across one stream…that we had to cross, because the new bridge above was not at all finished or safe. Slightly dangerous? Probably. But there was a beautiful waterfall and an intact suspension bridge near the top of our climb out of this rugged valley!

A striking image of the skeleton of a bridge spanning a deep and shady valley, seen from above. In the distance, the snowy, forested slopes of the Yeongnam Alps. — Another bridge taking shape

After our scramble-y start, we were truly surprised to suddenly find ourselves on a relaxing dirt road near the top of Jaeyaksan. This road led through a grassy field just below the peak – and must have come from somewhere! As usual, in mountains and in life, there are many routes to choose from and we picked the toughest one.

A simple photograph depicting a dirt road, lined by snow and forest. There's a large yellow banner affixed to some trees that warns of late fall fire danger.

We paused to take in the sun rising over the golden grasses and distant peaks across the field. Then we continued to climb up Jaeyaksan.

The sun rises over the eastern slopes of the Yeongnam Alps, as seen from the western slopes approaching Jaeyaksan.

It was a pointy peak with great views. Although the sun warmed the stone summit stele and had melted all the snow away here, an icy wind blew over the heights of Jaeyaksan!

A portrait of the author on Jaeyaksan. She's standing beside the pointy stone summit stele, her face half-hidden in her jacket and hat pulled down low on her head. But she's making a heart symbol with her hands, and leaning slightly against the stele. — Jaeyaksan!

The north side provided a perfect counterpoint to the south. Our approach on the southern slopes had been over gentle terrain and warmed by the rising sun. On the north, we quickly left the sun behind and encountered a snowy slog down to a huge picnic area.

A photograph of the summit of Cheonhwangsan: Jaeyaksan's neighboring peak and another mountain in the Yeongnam Alps. This summit is marked by a rounded stone stele and a massive cairn of small to mid-sized rocks. — Cheonhwangsan

Then it was rapidly back up again to the slightly higher summit of Cheonhwangsan, which was a celebration of all things stone! From there, our high trail meandered along a nice, densely-wooded ridge.

A tiny snowman sits in a shady spot in the forest, his eyebrows raised at passerby. — Forest friend

Popping out of the forest, we were all of a sudden back in civilization again. A cable car was ferrying the first visitors of the day a spot just below Nungdongsan, where several strolled around with cups of coffee in hand.

In this summit selfie, Kent squints into the camera on the left, while Carrie leans against the dark summit stele marking Nungdongsan in the background. It's a sunny, snowy scene! — Nungdongsan!

With a backward glance at Jaeyaksan, we crossed over the pass to the eastern side of the Yeongnam Alps, having a great day! Onward, to Sinbulsan!

A photograph of Kent, making his way along a trail in the Yeongnam Alps. He's got his hat in his hand, and trekking poles by his sides. He's walking a narrow path between banks of snow bordered by grass. There's a bit of a haze obscuring the long distance views, but there are snowy mountains in the distance too!

KNOW AND GO! JAEYAKSAN

TRANSPORTATION

Jaeyaksan, along with the rest of the Yeongnam Alps, are most conveniently located just outside of Ulsan in South Gyeongsang province! Even if you’re not living in the area, you can easily get to Ulsan, thanks to the city’s great bus and KTX connections.

From Ulsan to Jaeyaksan’s closest trailhead is about an hour’s journey by public transit. Catch the 328 from Ulsan KTX station, and hop out at Jukjeon village. Highways 69 runs through the valley that divides the Yeongnam Alps into eastern and western halves, and your summit will be directly above to the west.

To start on the western side of the mountain, transit via Miryang instead. From the bus terminal, catch the bus bound for Pyochungsa temple and you’ll be at the base of Jaeyaksan in 45 minutes.

There are also trailheads off highway 24 in Eurum valley. To reach these routes, take the Eurum bus from Miryang terminal for about an hour.

You could also drive to any of the aforementioned trailheads, or take a cab from either Ulsan or Miryang! Don’t forget that you can also reach Jaeyaksan on foot – from any of the other awesome summits in the Yeongnam Alps!

HIKE & RUN

Have you ever got options on Jaeyaksan! In addition to the variety of starting points, there are myriad end points too. Come prepared to explore! This is truly where it’s at for your really long runs or multi-day hikes. High ridges? Check. Multiple peaks? Check. Resupply options? Check. Fast way up or down via cable car? Check. Welcome to the Yeongnam Alps!

A photograph of the Yeongnam Alps trail map, including Jaeyaksan on the eastern side (left). — Oh, the places you can go – in the Yeongnam Alps!
Note the creative map orientation – East is up.
The Jaeyaksan section is in purple.

The routes up to the summit of Jaeyaksan from Jukjeon and Pyochungsa are about equidistant and neither are very direct. But this is a good thing, because there are lots of sights to see along the way! The route is significantly longer from Eurum valley – if you hike. You could also take the cable car, unless you think that’s cheating. You could potentially start a really perfect clockwise loop from 12:00 if you begin there (Jaeyaksan would be your 8:00 or so on this Alps clock)!

STAY & EAT

Mountain feasting opportunities abound here – this is the Yeongnam Alps! The apples from Eurum valley are particularly delicious and also highly recommended. If you want or need more choice, Ulsan and Miryang are not too far away.

There is so much camping in this area. If you’re specifically bound for Jaeyaksan as opposed to any of the other peaks, note the campsite on the road to Pyochungsa and two sites on the Danjang stream on the east side of the mountain. There are others both north and south of here on highway 69!

Same story for pensions: these Korean-style accommodations are found all the way round the mountain, but the majority are in the Pyochungsa and Jukjeon areas.

There are also handy-dandy motels located by the bus terminal in Miryang and train station in Ulsan. We stayed at the latter, in a particularly nice and new one!

OTHER NOTES

Jaeyaksan proper is actually 1108 meters tall. Despite reports to the contrary, it’s actually neighboring Cheonhwangsan that’s 1189 meters! Nonetheless, it’s former that appears on both of Korea’s 100 famous summits lists. The Korea Forest Service listing for Jaeyaksan can be found here and the Black Yak listing is over here.

In March 2018, Kent and I did a terrific tour de foot of the Yeongnam Alps. We ran 31 kilometers to link Jaeyaksan to Sinbulsan. But if we’d been smarter, we could have connected to Unmunsan and/or Gajisan as well!

When you’re done in the Yeongnam Alps, head on back to the 120 summits main page.

But don’t rush – have a terrific time on Jaeyaksan and in the Yeongnam Alps!