National park · North Chungcheong / North Gyeongsang
Sobaeksan National Park
소백산국립공원
Sobaeksan National Park (321.264 km²): Birobong at 1,439 m, royal azaleas, edelweiss and Korea’s largest yew colony on the Baekdudaegan.
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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.
Plan your visit
Birobong from Samga or Yeonhwabong from Jukryeong?
Sobaeksan’s broad ridge can be reached from several sides. Pick the course before the bus: the Samga summit guide and the Jukryeong transport instructions begin at different entrances.
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The highest summit
Birobong from Samga
Start at Samga visitor centre 삼가탐방지원센터
Choose Samga for the summit trail past Dalbatgol and Yangban Rock to Birobong’s grassy ridge. The dedicated guide explains the approach from Yeongju via Punggi, the climb and the return planning.
Read the Samga–Birobong guide -
Yeonhwabong and the main ridge
Yeonhwabong from Jukryeong
Start at Jukryeong rest area 죽령휴게소
Choose Jukryeong for the approach towards Yeonhwabong, one of the peaks on Sobaeksan’s main ridge. The walk starts at the mountain pass between Yeongju and Danyang; use the park’s Jukryeong course to plan the climb and return.
Compare Sobaeksan’s official courses
The transport route below reaches Jukryeong
Only Yeongju bus 25 departures marked Jukryeong continue to the pass beyond Huibangsa. For the Birobong route from Samga, follow the separate trail guide and its bus 26 approach.
Place details
- Region
- North Chungcheong · North Gyeongsang
- Type of place
- National park
Getting there
Start at Yeongju Intercity Bus Terminal
Entrance or stop 죽령휴게소
- Board bus 25 toward Huibangsa only if that departure is marked Jukryeong (죽령). Most services on the route do not go all the way to the pass.
- Stay on to Jukryeong. The trail access point is Jukryeong Rest Area (죽령휴게소) on the Danyang side of the pass.
Coming back Yeongju City marks the return services from Jukryeong separately. Check the departures labelled 죽령 before walking away from the pass.
Transport sources checked .About Sobaeksan National Park
Sobaeksan became Korea’s 18th national park on 14 December 1987. Its 321.264 km² lie on the Baekdudaegan in Danyang, North Chungcheong, and Yeongju and Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang, wrapping the Yeongju basin like a folding screen.
Thick weathered gneiss gives the main ridge soft earth slopes. Birobong (1,439 m), Gungmangbong (1,421 m) and the Yeonhwabong peaks are known for wild flowers, among them the rare Korean edelweiss, and for royal azaleas in spring.
On the north-west slopes between the first Yeonhwabong and Birobong, at 1,200–1,350 m, grow 3,798 yews with an average age of 350 years, the largest yew colony in Korea. Jukgye Gugok, setting of the Goryeo song Jukgye Byeolgok, and the 28 m Huibang Falls are its valleys.
Worth seeing
- Birobong 비로봉The 1,439 m summit, with azaleas and the yew colony nearby.
- Huibang Falls 희방폭포A 28 m waterfall in the Huibang valley.
- Jukgye Gugok 죽계구곡Nine bends of the stream below Gungmangbong.
Written from the Korea National Park Service park introduction.