NATURE
IN KOREA

Mountain · Gangwon / Gyeonggi

Myeongseongsan

명성산

Myeongseongsan (922 m), Pocheon: golden silver-grass fields above Sanjeong Lake, with waterfalls and a crying-mountain legend.

Aerial view of Myeongseongsan's slopes white with silver grass in autumn, a long wooden boardwalk zigzagging through
The silver-grass slopes of Myeongseongsan in autumn. Photo: ⓒ한국관광콘텐츠랩-라이브스튜디오

Place details

Region
Gangwon · Gyeonggi
Type of place
Mountain
Locality in the source
철원군 · 포천시
Summit height
922 m summit altitude, Korea Forest Service guide p. 136

Getting there

2 official trailheads are listed below with a public transport planner: choose a trailhead, then start from your location or a station.

Trailheads you can reach by public transport

Myeongseongsan has more than one way in. These are official trailheads named by the managing authority. Choose one for the way up and, if you cross the mountain, another for the way down.

Shaded relief of Myeongseongsan with its official trailheads numbered and the summit marked Myeongseongsan summit 922 m12
Terrain from Copernicus DEM GLO-90 (© DLR e.V. 2010–2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014–2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA). Trailhead and summit positions © OpenStreetMap contributors; summit height from the Korea Forest Service guide. Not a hiking map: trails are not drawn. Select a number to plan a trip to that trailhead.
  1. Sangdong car park (courses 1 and 2) 상동주차장 (1·2코스)
  2. Jainsa Temple (course 3) 자인사 (3코스)
Trailheads checked .

About Myeongseongsan

Myeongseongsan rises on the border of Pocheon and Cheorwon, 84 km north-east of Seoul. Its rocky ridges ease on the east side into a basin of silver grass below Samgakbong, which turns gold every October for the Sanjeong Lake Silver Grass Festival.

From the summit the twelve-peak ridge runs south, with Gwangdeoksan, Baegunsan and Gungmangbong on every side. Deungnyong Falls, Chaekbawi rock and a cave linked to King Gungye lie along the trails.

The name means crying mountain: when the fallen king Gungye wept for his lost kingdom, the mountain is said to have wept with him.

Through the seasons

Spring
Green grass like an alpine meadow
Summer
Water roaring in the side valleys
Autumn
Waves of golden silver grass
Winter
Frozen ice falls

Worth seeing

  • Silver grass path 억새풍경길Through the grass to Samgakbong.
  • Deungnyong Falls 등룡폭포A two-tier fall where a dragon is said to have risen.

Written from the Korea Forest Service guide 꼭 한번 가 볼 우리 100대 명산, p. 136.

Sources

More mountains in Gangwon