Hallasan 한라산

To stand on the summit of Hallasan you need a free booking for the Seongpanak or Gwaneumsa trail, released at 09:00 KST on the first working day of the previous month. From October to March you must pass the trailhead by 11:30 and leave the summit by 13:30. No booking? Yeongsil and Eorimok lead to the 1,700 m Witse-oreum plateau.

Hallasan is the volcano that forms the middle of Jeju and, at 1,947 m, the highest mountain in South Korea (the park’s own trail pages round it to 1,950 m). Its summit holds Baengnokdam, a crater lake, and the mountain is part of the UNESCO-listed Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes, together with Seongsan Ilchulbong on the east coast. Visiting is a hike, not a sightseeing stop: even the shortest high-level walk takes half a day.

Which trail should you take?

Seven trails start from the roads around the mountain. Only two reach the crater; the rest end at Witse-oreum or the Nambyeok junction below the south wall of the summit, or are short walks on the lower slopes.

Trail	Goes to	Distance, time (one way)	Booking
Seongpanak (east)	Summit, via Jindallaebat Shelter	9.6 km, about 4 h 30 min	Needed beyond Jindallaebat
Gwaneumsa (north)	Summit, via Samgakbong Shelter	8.7 km, about 5 h	Needed beyond Samgakbong
Yeongsil (southwest)	Witse-oreum, Nambyeok junction	5.8 km from the Yeongsil rest area, about 2 h 30 min to Nambyeok	Not needed
Eorimok (northwest)	Witse-oreum, Nambyeok junction	6.8 km, about 2 h to Witse-oreum, 3 h to Nambyeok	Not needed
Donnaeko (south)	Nambyeok junction	7 km, about 3 h 30 min	Not needed
Eoseungsaengak	Small peak near Eorimok	1.3 km, about 30 min	Not needed
Seokguram	Seokguram hermitage	1.5 km, about 50 min	Not needed

Distances and times from the Hallasan National Park Office trail pages, checked 8 October 2026. Pick Seongpanak if you want the summit and steady footing, Gwaneumsa if you are a strong hiker who wants the steeper, more dramatic route, and Yeongsil if you want big views in half a day without a booking.

• Seongpanak is the longest trail but the gentlest, mostly through forest until the last stretch above Jindallaebat. A 600 m side path at the 5.8 km mark leads to the crater lake of Saraoreum.
• Gwaneumsa climbs through deep valleys and past the Samgakbong rock to the crown-shaped Wanggwalleung ridge. The park rates its upper sections as difficult. Many hikers go up Seongpanak and come down Gwaneumsa; book the trail you start on.
• Yeongsil starts with a steep climb past the Yeongsil rock pinnacles and the Byeongpung-bawi cliffs, then crosses the flat alpine plain of Seonjakjiwat to Witse-oreum. The rest area is 2.5 km up a road from the Yeongsil office, where the bus stops; on foot that adds roughly 40 minutes each way.
• Eorimok has a steep section up to Sajebi-dongsan, then easy walking over the plateau. Roe deer are often seen here.

Gwaneumsa was closed above Samgakbong from 1 August 2026 for rockfall repairs and reopened to the summit on 24 September 2026, so older posts saying it is shut are out of date.

How to book the summit

Bookings are made only on the official site, visithalla.jeju.go.kr, which has an English version.

1. Know the release day. All dates in a month open at 09:00 KST on the first working day of the month before (weekends and national holidays do not count). There is no waiting list, and opening morning can bring a queue on the site.
2. Verify yourself. Visitors without Korean real-name verification use e-mail verification on the English site. Use the same login method later, or the booking will not show when you look it up.
3. Pick a trail and a time slot. Since 1 December 2025 each summit trail has two slots: 05:00–08:00 (800 places on Seongpanak, 400 on Gwaneumsa) and a later slot until that day’s entry cut-off (200 and 100 places).
4. Complete everyone’s details. A booking without the hikers’ details stays “incomplete” and is cancelled after a day. Each hiker gets a QR code by phone message or e-mail.
5. Bring ID. Staff check ID against the QR code at the entrance. A mismatch means no entry and a one-year booking ban, and so does buying or selling QR codes.

Cancel if you can’t go. Not hiking and not cancelling before your slot ends brings a three-month booking ban; a second time, one year. When the park closes the mountain for weather it sends a message to everyone booked.

Cut-off times: when you must start and turn back

Hallasan is a day hike only, and every trail has an entry cut-off and fixed turn-back points so that hikers are off the mountain before dark. Entry opens at 05:00 all year.

Checkpoint	Oct–Mar	Apr–Sep
Last entry: Seongpanak entrance / Jindallaebat	11:30	12:30
Last entry: Gwaneumsa entrance / Samgakbong	11:30	12:30
Last entry: Eorimok, Yeongsil	12:00	15:00
Last entry: Donnaeko	10:00	11:00
Leave the summit (Dongneung peak) by	13:30	14:30
Leave Witse-oreum by	15:00	17:00
Leave the Nambyeok junction by	14:00	15:00

From the Hallasan reservation site and park notice, confirmed by Korean press on 28 September 2026; checked 8 October 2026. For a summit day in the cooler half of the year, aim to be on the trail by 07:00: at the official 4 h 30 min pace, an 11:30 start would reach the top after the 13:30 turn-back time.

Getting to the trailheads

There are no shops on any trail beyond the trailheads, so stock up in Jeju City first. A T-money card works on Jeju buses.

• Seongpanak. Bus 281 runs from Jeju Bus Terminal along the 5.16 Road (first bus 06:00, every 10–14 minutes, about 45 minutes); express bus 181 from Jeju Airport takes about 35 minutes. The trailhead car park (156 spaces) fills very early, so the park asks hikers to come by bus.
• Gwaneumsa. No bus runs direct from the airport or terminal. Take bus 281 to Sancheondan, then change to bus 475 (first 06:20, every 45–90 minutes) for the last 7 minutes.
• Eorimok and Yeongsil. Bus 240 runs from Jeju Bus Terminal along the 1100 Road: about 35 minutes to the Eorimok entrance and 50 minutes to the Yeongsil ticket office.

A common no-booking day is up Yeongsil and down Eorimok. Both lie on the 240 route, so one bus line covers the round trip.

What to bring and the rules on the mountain

• Water and food. The shops at Jindallaebat and Witse-oreum shelters closed in 2018. Only the Yeongsil rest area and a private shop at the Gwaneumsa entrance sell supplies.
• No meals at the summit. Snacks are fine on top, but eat proper meals at Jindallaebat or Samgakbong shelter.
• No disposable lunch boxes, alcohol, smoking or stoves. Gimbap and burgers are allowed. Carry your rubbish down.
• Warm layers and microspikes. The weather changes fast on the upper slopes. From late autumn, carry a warm jacket, gloves, a headlamp and crampons or microspikes.
• Summit certificate. Hikers with a booking can claim a certificate on the day with a summit photo. Since 1 September 2026 it can be issued as a PDF on the booking site, as well as from kiosks at the trailheads.

When to go

Autumn colour on the mountain usually peaks in early to mid-October, according to the park, and spring brings azaleas from early May into early June. Winter turns the upper slopes white but brings the most closures. Check the park’s real-time trail page on the morning of your hike in any season.

For the rest of the island, see the Jeju city guide and the Jeju region page. For another national park hike close to a big city, see Bukhansan in Seoul, or compare all 24 in our national parks guide.