NATURE
IN KOREA

National park · Busan / South Gyeongsang

Geumjeongsan National Park

금정산국립공원

Climb from Beomeosa to Godangbong or begin a ridge walk beside the fortress walls at Dongmun. The two entrances use different metro and bus connections.

Jagged granite ridge of Geumjeongsan in warm autumn light, with blue hills fading behind
A granite ridge on Geumjeongsan, Busan. Photo: Honza Soukup

Plan your visit

A summit climb or the fortress ridge?

Geumjeongsan’s granite rocks, woodland and long ridge can be approached from several sides of Busan. Beomeosa suits the climb towards Godangbong; Dongmun places you at the eastern fortress ridge.

  • Woodland followed by the summit

    Godangbong from Beomeosa

    Start at Beomeosa temple entrance 범어사 입구

    Take the mountain path behind the Beomeosa entrance towards Bukmun, the North Gate. Continue from the gate to Godangbong for the summit, or make the wooded approach to Bukmun the focus of your walk. The district’s route guide shows the onward ridge connection towards Dongmun if you want to finish at a different entrance.

    Official Beomeosa and Godangbong route

  • Ridge scenery beside the fortress walls

    Dongmun to Bukmun and Beomeosa

    Start at Dongmun, the East Gate of Geumjeongsanseong 금정산성 동문

    Begin at Dongmun and follow the ridge by the fortress walls towards Watchtowers 3 and 4, then Bukmun. Busan’s walking route continues down to Beomeosa, making this a useful choice for a walk between two bus-served entrances. The granite landscape and ridge scenery are the reason to choose this section.

    Busan’s East Gate walking route

The transport route below uses the Beomeosa entrance

Bus 90 from Beomeosa Station on Metro Line 1 reaches the Beomeosa parking area. For Dongmun, travel to Oncheonjang Station on the same metro line, transfer to bus 203 and get off at Dongmun. Choose the entrance that matches your intended walking direction.

See the arrival directions

Place details

Type of place
National park

Getting there

Start at Beomeosa Station, Busan Metro Line 1

Entrance or stop 범어사 주차장

  1. Leave by exit 5 or 7. Walk about five minutes to the stop for bus 90.
  2. Take bus 90 toward Beomeosa Temple (범어사) and get off at Beomeosa Parking Lot for the temple approach.
Transport sources checked .

About Geumjeongsan National Park

Geumjeongsan was designated a national park by notice on 28 November 2025, and its park office opened on 3 March 2026. The name, golden well, comes from a legend recorded in Joseon geographies: a golden fish came down from heaven on five-coloured cloud to play in a well on a rock at the summit, the spring now called Geumsaem.

From Godangbong (801.5 m) the ridge runs north to Janggunbong and south over Sanggyebong to Baegyangsan in a crescent around an eroded basin. Weathering has left tors, stacked boulders like stone towers, and tafoni, rock faces pitted like honeycomb, with boulder fields on the slopes.

The mountain is part of the Nakdong Jeongmaek ecological corridor and home to some 1,700 species, among them otters and leopard cats. Beomeosa, founded by the Silla monk Uisang, and Geumjeongsanseong, a fortress wall about 17 km around, are its best-known heritage.

Worth seeing

  • Beomeosa 범어사Temple founded by the monk Uisang, named with the golden-fish legend.
  • Geumjeongsanseong 금정산성Mountain fortress walls about 17 km around.
  • Geumsaem 금샘The rock spring near Godangbong that gave the mountain its name.

Written from the Korea National Park Service park introduction.

Sources