Naebyeonsan (내변산)

The heart of Byeonsanbando National Park (변산반도국립공원)

This is unequivocally one of my favorite places. Byeonsanbando National Park (변산반도국립공원) is a little slice of perfection nestled on Korea’s southwest coast. It has everything: a rocky mountain, dense forests, pretty temples and beautiful beaches. I had truly one of the best days of my life on Naebyeonsan (내변산)!

An image of the author standing on a ridge in Byeonsanbando National Park. She is grinning happily and has one arm raised. Her other hand is holding a rope railing, and she's standing on a rocky outcrop over a green forest. In the distance, a flat area between the mountains contains a temple and some small-scale farms. Further still, there is a shallow bay where the tide is out, leaving behind a brown stretch of mud flats. — Hilltop happiness

I knew that we were in for a treat before we even arrived. I’d researched the park extensively, which was why I’d chosen it for Kent’s birthday. As an added bonus, the day dawned sunny, warm and clear. We leapt off the bus one stop early because we were just too excited to wait a moment longer! A little way down the road, we began our Naebyeonsan hike proper at the entrance to a temple. There we turned right to climb around and over it on a long ridge.

A panoramic image taken from the Naebyeon ridge over Byeonsanbando National park. In the foreground, the needles of pine trees appear bright green. Further afield are the dark hulks of forested mountain ridges. The valley containing the temple grounds is visible near the center of the frame. The sky is a brilliant blue with soft fluffy clouds in places. — Lovely day, lovely scenery

The ascent was wonderful. Sometimes we climbed in the cool shade cast by pine trees on a trail of soft earth. Sometimes we paused on craggy, rocky cliffs for breathtaking views of our shapely peninsula where it meets the sea. I was in high spirits, partly because I was feeling so completely in touch with nature. At one point, while Kent was hiking on ahead of me, I paused at a viewpoint. I spun around, soaking up the beauty. When I stopped, I felt a small vibration, like the littlest earthquake under the arch of my left foot. Surprised, I lifted my foot. A little black-winged insect flew up and away over Naebyeonsan. So cool!

An image of the author celebrating the beauty of Byeonsanbando. She stands in the center of the frame, arms stretched out wide, smiling joyfully. Behind her are some of the rockier parts of the mountain range, and below is a forest of different greens. — In my element

An image of the author and her husband. Her husband stands in the foreground, close to the camera, taking the photo from a low angle. Above him and slightly to the right is the author, perched on a rocky cliff. There are some trees growing from the cliff, and the sky above is bright but mostly indistinct with clouds. — More celebrating!

Up, up, up, we went. It was impossible to maintain any sort of pace with gorgeous vistas in every direction. Take a few steps, pause, spin, repeat. The air stayed clear as the morning wore on, and I was amazed at our great visibility. On one side, we could see the temple grounds and an expanse of mud flats in a bay that was slowly filling up with seawater. On the other side, we could see a patchwork of green forest and tan colored rocks on rows of ridges. In the distance, there was a little blue lake surrounded by Naebyeonsan’s green slopes. I remember thinking, many times, that this was the best day of my life.

An image of a small lake nestled between mountain slopes. The lake is a dark blue, in contrast to the emerald green of the forest. Clouds cast shadows over some parts of the mountain slopes, making a patchwork of different shades of green. — Little blue jewel in a sea of green

And it just kept going! We found two perfect peaks with great views. For a picnic, I’d even packed us our favorite Subway sandwiches (well, the uneaten halves, anyways). I gave Kent a soggy, sweaty handmade birthday card, illustrated with mountains.

An image of the author's husband, seated on a bench at the end of a long observation deck. This platform is immediately behind the main summit stele, and offers great views over the park. There are several other benches in the foreground of this image. The sky beyond the deck is bright, and filled with clouds. — Birthday boy enjoying the observation deck

Heading down was just as lovely, with views of the ridges shrinking down to the seashore, where the sun sparkled off gentle waves. Truth be told, I didn’t really want to leave Naebyeonsan. I was only persuaded by the promise of exploring Naesosa Temple, and playing on the beach later.

An image of the author navigating a steep, rocky cliffside trail. She appears small in the bottom left of the frame, with a massive grey and tan rock rising up out of the frame to the right. There is a wooden railing beside her and a forest behind. — More exciting trail

An image of the author and her husband. They are both smiling brightly. Behind them is a gently sloped valley that leads down to the temple grounds. Forested ridges are bright green to the left and right.

The temple did not disappoint, and was a instead a credit to its beautiful setting. There was a field of flowers blooming that we couldn’t help but frolic in. Some of the temple buildings were decorated with colorful lanterns. The buildings themselves were lovely, traditional structures all in natural wood and white. We stayed for lunch just outside the temple gates under a huge, ancient tree.

An image of one of the buildings of Naesosa temple set against a beautiful mountain backdrop. The temple building is of classic shape and design, with a curving tiled roof, multiple doorways and large pillars. But this building is simply decorated: the wood is left unpainted, and the panels between the pillars are painted white. The building is in the left of the frame, with the rooftops of several other, lower buildings visible in the middle of the frame. Beyond are the forested slopes of the mountain, above which some rocky peaks rise. — Naesosa Temple and surrounds

A local bus took us to a harbor, where I was delighted to find a slurpee in a bag and signs pointing us toward another hike! After a little boat admiration, we decided to run in the direction of an observation point. It wasn’t far away, and soon we were standing at the top of a big white tower with sweeping harbor and ocean views. The sun was warm, the sea breeze strong and a little salty…perfection.

A panoramic image of Byeonsan Beach taken from the Dalgibong observatory. The air is incredibly clear, making for a vast viewing distance. Byeonsan Beach makes a deep horseshoe curve into the middle of the frame from the left. Immediately below the tower is a thick pine forest. The sea beyond it is a beautiful bright blue, and the sky above it is almost cloudless and even more brilliant. The beach itself is visible as a thin white strip of sand. behind which are many buildings and antennas. There are some light green fields between the beach and some darker green mountains. — Byeonsan Beach from above

An image of the author, leaning on the railing of the observation tower, over a harbor. She holds up her fingers to show that this is the 18th park she and her husband have visited. She is wearing sunglasses and smiling widely. The harbor is backed by dark green mountains, and the sea is dotted with boats of various sizes. — Harbor views from Dalgibong

We ended our double run adventure by running down to the beach on the other side of the lookout. There were motels and marts galore, so we were quickly set up for a great night. We splashed around and swam in the water in the setting sun. What a truly great birthday adventure!

An image of the beach at sunset. There is a long orange-gold streak from where the sun across the sea and wet sand. There are several people walking on the beach and climbing on rocks in the upper right corner of the frame. Among the footprints in the sandy foreground, the author has written a birthday message to her husband. — Sunset at Byeonsan Beach

Know and Go! Naebyeonsan & Byeonsanbando National Park

Transportation

We used a bus from Jeonju to get to Byeonsanbando National Park. However, there are closer options to base yourself or transit through, including the cities of Buan, Gochang and Jeongeup. If you are taking public transportation from almost anywhere, you will have to transfer to a local bus at one of these points. From Seoul, catching a bus to Buan and then connecting to a local bus is probably your best bet for getting to the park.

Once in the park, local buses run between the hiking areas and the beaches and ports along the coast. The hiking routes are in the mountains around Naesosa temple. This is Naebyeonsan, the inner, western portion of the park. Byeonsan and other beaches are located in the outer Oebyeonsan part of the park. The distance between Naesosa and Byeonsan Beach is about 20 minutes in a taxi or just under an hour in a public bus (and there are other beaches along the way).

Hike & Run

It is almost, but not quite, possible to hike in the mountains until to the coast. But there’s a significant section of highway breaking up the pristine nature. For this reason, many hikers do loops beginning and ending at Naesosa temple. There are point-to-point route options too, but they involve entrances and/or exits in fairly remote areas of the park.

The small loop from Naesosa takes in two beautiful peaks, with panoramic views of the sea and other peaks in the Naebyeon range. This hike, although small, is tremendously scenic, especially on a clear day. Highly recommendable!

An image of the trail network in the Naebyeonsan mountain range. There are several long snaking trail tails around a central loop. There are also two elevation profiles under the trail map. — Naebyeonsan trail map

Stay & Eat

It seems likely that you would want to base yourself, as we did, at the beach. With the mountains just a short bus or cab ride away, you will have access to a lovely sunset as well anything you need to buy. Byeonsan Beach is full of restaurants, motels and convenience stores. As always when staying seaside, be aware that most restaurants will be serving seafood. So if that’s not your thing, bring whatever is or hit up a mart. There are some small cafes too, all locally owned and operated. So no Starbucks, but we did find a Starbus!

Starbus

Other Notes

We celebrated Kent’s birthday in this lovely park in September 2016! This was the 18th national park we visited during our mountain mission year. We enjoyed a little 5.6 km loop on Naebyeonsan and a mini 1.5 km jaunt near Byeonsan Beach.

The peak of Naebyeonsan – and the top of Byeonsanbando National Park – is 424m Gwaneumbong. It has impressive views over the sea and rows of ridges. It’s included on the Black Yak mountain challenge, and here is its description.

I researched this great park using the Korea National Park Service website.

Please explore more mountains with me! Here are the national parks and here are the 120 summits!