Mountain · Gwangju / South Jeolla
Mudeungsan
무등산
Mudeungsan (1,186.8 m), Gwangju: Korea’s 21st national park and a UNESCO Global Geopark, with giant stone columns near the top.
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15 Nov – 15 Dec 2026
Autumn fire-season trail closures
The Korea National Park Service closes 148 trail sections in the national parks for the autumn wildfire season: 115 fully and 33 in part. Other trails stay open as usual. Check the closure list for your park before you set off.
Place details
- Region
- Gwangju · South Jeolla
- Type of place
- Mountain
- Locality in the source
- 담양군 · 화순군
- Summit height
- 1,186.8 m summit altitude, Korea Forest Service guide p. 148
Locate the place
Search by the Korean name and locality, then check the public entrance with the managing authority.
About Mudeungsan
Mudeungsan is the guardian mountain of Gwangju and South Jeolla. A provincial park from 1972, it became Korea’s 21st national park in 2013 and is a UNESCO Global Geopark.
Broad and earthy, it feels steady and generous, but near the top stand Seoseokdae and Ipseokdae, walls of five- and six-sided columnar joints formed as lava cooled. Around the highest peak, Cheonwangbong, vertical rock rises like a palisade.
The name means a mountain beyond compare, too high to be ranked.
Through the seasons
- Spring
- Adonis and early windflowers
- Summer
- Water down Yongchu Falls
- Autumn
- Silver grass dancing on the ridge
- Winter
- Ipseokdae in snow
Worth seeing
- Ipseokdae 입석대Stone columns at about 950 m, a natural monument.
- Jeungsimsa 증심사A Silla temple at the start of the main trail.
Where the main trail starts
Jeungsimsa bus stop, Mudeungsan National Park 무등산국립공원(증심사)(버스정류장)
A main route in the Forest Service guide begins here. Search the Korean name to plan your bus or taxi to the entrance.
Written from the Korea Forest Service guide 꼭 한번 가 볼 우리 100대 명산, p. 148.