I’m always afraid of forgetting memories and never want to forget this one at Suncheon‘s Jogyesan Provincial Park. The park is close to Jirisan National Park whose snow-capped mountains will dominate the view of our short drive from Yeosu to Suncheon. Inside this park, a locally known path called the Philosopher’s Hike has piqued our interest and will connect some beautiful temples that any visitor to South Korea should explore.
We included a visit to Suncheon in our Things to do in Yeosu, South Korea travel guide.
The Jogyesan Philosopher’s Hike
Getting to Jogyesan Provincial Park
Driving to Suncheon
GPS Info for drivers – English: 11, Seungjugoemok 1-gil, Suncheon-si, Jeollanam-do Korean: 전라남도 순천시 승주읍 승주괴목1길 11 (승주읍)
Bus Info
From Seoul. Leave from Seoul’s Central City Express Bus Terminal. Buses leave every 40 minutes and barring extreme traffic, you should arrive after 4 1/2 hours.
Getting to Seonamsa Temple
From Suncehon Bus Terminal, take Bus 1 (leaves every 30 minutes) to Seonamsa Buddhist Temple. The trip should take about 1 hour.
Getting to Songgwangsa Temple
From Suncheon Bus Terminal, take Bus 111 (leaves every 30 minutes) to Songgwangsa Buddhist Temple. The trip should take about 1 hour.
Our Story
South Korea is full of so many beautiful landmarks and many are found in the mountains. A lot of the country’s well-known Buddhist temples lie in mountainous surroundings of the cities and in Suncheon, the two many people talk about are connected by this Philosopher’s Hike inside Jogyesan—Seonamsa and Songgwangsa temples. It’s about 5 kilometers between the two temples if you take the path and the sights, smells, and sounds along the way are phenomenal.
Seonamsa
Starting at Suncheon’s glorious Seonamsa Temple, the snow resumes from an early morning break. There’s almost a festival atmosphere here, with a flurry of activity accompanying the falling snow. Monks walk around and try to keep up their daily business, as our party and others pass through this temple for prayer or a place to get started hiking.
While watching the mixture of snow and sun, our party runs into a kind old gentleman who was, of course, curious about our names and nationalities and all those things that come with first meetings here. Having two sons, the man explains that he’s been served a “dung medal” in life and wanted the benefits that come with having daughters. I don’t understand why he wants to tell us that, but my guess is that he needs to tell someone.
After seeing him and sampling some tea near the temple, we begin walking on the Philosopher’s Hike that cuts through Jogyesan Provincial Park. Highlights along the way include stops at an evergreen forest, cutting through, and no snow cover thanks to the canopy layer. This contrast of green with the adjacent white trails makes a welcome contrast to the recent weeks and the hangover found after fall leaves you expecting more color.
Food In Between
The best part of the day comes at the trail’s unofficial midway point and the meal that everyone is waiting for there. One of Korea’s finest—bori bap—along with some rice wine inside a warm tent helps us all recharge. A wood stove fights against the outside elements, keeping us toasty while roasting sweet potatoes that visitors seem to enjoy. Loading up on rice and the assorted vegetables that come with this fabulous meal, round two with the cold begins.
Songgwangsa
We reach the trail’s end at Songgwangsa Temple. Not merely just the end of our journey, this monastery is one of South Korea’s most famous temples and packed with beautiful buildings and the careful planning found at Zen complexes. The snow has mostly dissipated by now, but the cold still keeps its grip on the day. The sun edges closer to the horizon and the day reaches its finale, we reflect on the wonderful walk and things along the way.
These memories wouldn’t have been possible without the suggestion coming from my students, and for the people who decided to join us for this adventure. This Philosopher’s Hike between Seonamsa and Songgwangsa temples inside Suncheon Jogyesan Provincial Park is well known among locals but for me, it felt like a true discovery. This cold memory is thankfully stored forever, in a warm safe place deep inside my heart and mind.
Our Thoughts and Yours
Ever visited either of these two temples? Even if not, what would you make of a place that connected two awesome Buddhist temples? Let us know in the comments section below:)
This Jogyesan Philosopher’s Hike guide is part of our series on South Korea Travel, East Asia Travel, and Asia Travel. It was originally created on August 20, 2017. It has been maintained and updated (as of December 27, 2018) on our blog to reflect current viewpoints and travel destination trends.
My husband and I walked from Songgwangsa to Seonamsa on Children’s Day, 1997. Great memory!
(Corpuscular is a word, but I believe the rays in question were crepuscular.)
Hi Helena! Thanks for stopping by! Also, thanks for the correction there! I’ll make a note of it:)
Cheers and I hope you get to go back and enjoy this hike!
Do you happen to have a map of the trails? Is the place serving bori bap located on the trail that actually goes to the summit or the one that goes around the mountain?
Hi Curtis, thanks so much for commenting. I’m currently traveling so apologies for the delay. You’ve touched upon a wonderful point that I should make a how-to on this hike.
The Bori Bap place is located about halfway through the hike and doesn’t have any particular markings, though I remember that we didn’t really have to search for it. It was kinda there along the way.
Here’s a guide provided by Korea Tourism in the meantime.
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=815441
There are two hikes listed between Songgwangsa and Seonamsa. I’m not sure which one we did but the longer one seems more likely. Also, we did this in the snow so it was much longer than the 3 hours listed.
I really appreciate you commenting on this post and hope you enjoy the hike. Hope you can stop back by and give me an update on how it went. Will be totally beautiful in the Spring and Fall if you make it during those times.
Take Care.
I lived in Gwangju for seven years.
I absolutely love the pictures in this post! Seeing the temple and nature covered in a blanket of snow really brings the story to life! Wonderful descriptions, too. I learned a new term (corpuscular rays, thanks for that!) and am feeling fuzzy with nostalgia for winter hikes I’ve been on myself. A treat, as always.
Thank you so much Nathan! The corpuscalars were out in full force that day and thanks to Emily, we were saying it all day long. Come back to Korea and check out Suncheon!
In general I am a huge fan of winter hikes…but I have to say that the landscape of frozen mud and dead grass this (almost) past winter in my South Korean town left me feeling rather uninspired! Your writing about your experience on the Philosopher’s Walk was full of poignant moments that I really appreciated…I think that this day hike will have to go on my list of things to do in Korea…perhaps I should save it for a day next winter when I need to battle the winter blues (those fresh roasted sweet potatoes sound like a ‘must eat’!) Nice piece of writing!
Thank you so much, Lara! I too feel a bit bummed and lacking for creativity when staring at brown mountains all the time. This hike really helped me get out of the rut. I hope you get a chance to visit, even if it’s nice. Suncheon is wonderful!
I’m afraid of forgetting too! But unfortunately I’m not as good as you are about recording memories, haha.
The pictures from this post were breathtaking!! Evan is soo sensitive to the cold that I can’t imagine he’d be up for a winter hike!! But it looks like it’s worth it. We still haven’t made it to Jiri Natl Park, but we should be going soon! 🙂
I was in Jiri this past weekend and was shocked to see snow still on the ground! Though it was mushy and hopefully going to be gone relatively soon. Still a bit chilly up there right now!
Thanks so much for your kind words. I hope you enjoyed reading:)
I’m ALWAYS afraid of forgetting. It’s one of the main reasons I started my blog, it’s why I am a frantic journal keeper. Who knows if all of these notes will make any sense to me years from now, but I do my best to remember those moments that mean something to me.
I appreciate you focusing on that part of this story. My memory is already starting to go, it seems, so I’ve gotta write all this stuff down or forget it! It’s good to see there’s another person like me in that regard. Btw, did you get to see Suncheon while you were in Jeonnam?
no 🙁 I miss so much – There just never seems to be enough time to explore during my vacation days…
What a great post. We, too have had spectacular experiences with Koreans showing “jeon” and they almost always come when we find ourselves in a rut, or missing home. This sounds like a great experience in Suncheon, and we’ll have to get the details from you about this hike. We are always game to experience new temples, hermitages, and meditative walks.
A quick question, though: The hermitage you’re talking about (Seonam), is it a part of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism? We’ve been to Jogyesa Temple many times in Seoul and know that it is the headquarters for the Jogye Order. Since Seonam is on Jogyesan, we were curious if there was a historical connection between the mountain, the hermitage, and the Buddhist Order.
Thanks so much for your comment. Both temples are part of the Taego Order which along with Jogye, fall under Seon (Zen). More info can be found in the first paragraph of this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Buddhism
Love the word corpuscular. I thought it was a term for corpuscular muscle. Love the fact that I had to look up that word. That means I’m learning.
I will have to visit this city. After the usual tourist places I’ve been to here, the off the beaten path is a definite must travel before I leave. Thanks for the great post.
Thanks Charisse! I’m happy you learned something while reading:) That’s what makes it so fun, I think. I hope you get a chance to visit Suncheon. There’s so much to see and do here!
Wow. The image of the frozen waterwheel is especially haunting. I am always fascinated when one part of the world can remind of of another so far away. When I got to Athens I had to laugh because the foothills looked a lot like the Boise foothills. Granted, Boise isn’t sitting on the Mediterranean, but still…
Thanks Jeri. I’m always wondering about how places like this might be similar to others. Korea always reminds me of West Virginia. I guess the connection through mountains will never go away since I’ve spent so much time in both places.
What a lovely post! I really connected with it as I have very fond memories of the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia! I’d really like to do the Philosopher’s Walk someday! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much, Lindsay! What connections do you have to WV? Did you live there as well? Do tell.