Gayasan National Park, also known as Gaya Mountain National Park (), is a large

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

in the eastern part of South Korea. The park is named in honor of Gayasan and became a National Park in 1972. The park includes

Haeinsa Haeinsa () is a Buddhist temple in Gayasan National Park, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Seon Buddhism. Haeinsa is most notable for being the home of the ''Tripitaka Koreana,'' the who ...

, which is one of the main temples of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism.

Geography

Gayasan National Park covers an area of more than 160 square kilometers. The national park extends from the northern edge of

South Gyeongsang Province South Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple tha ...

, to the southern limit of

North Gyeongsang Province North Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in eastern South Korea, and with an area of , it is the largest province in the Korean peninsula. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remaine ...

. The Sobaek Mountain range runs through this area.

Gaya Mountain

The national park is named in honor of Gaya Mountain. This mountain has two major peaks: one of them is Sangwangbong Peak, for which the height is 1,430 meters, and the other slightly higher peak, Chulbulbong, is 1,433 above sea level.

Special features

One significant feature of the national park is

. This Buddhist temple includes in its grounds a standing

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

figure carved into a vertical rock. Another feature of the park is Yongmun Falls and Hongnyudong Valley. 380 different species of

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

have been identified as growing there, as well as 100 species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s, and other wild

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

History

The area was declared Scenic Site No. 5 by the Korean government in 1966, and it became an official

National Park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

in 1972. The remoteness of the area has played a role in protecting it from destruction in the past, specifically during the Japanese invasions of 1592-98, when much of the country was razed. Since that time, legend says that the area around Gaya Mountains is free from the Three Disasters: fire, floods and wind.

Gallery

Image:Kayasan01.JPG, Gayasan from Haeinsa temple Image:Kayasan02.JPG, Gayasan from Southeast Image:Kayasan03.JPG, Ruins of Baekumam temple in Gayasan Image:Kayasan04.JPG, Gayasan Castle in Gayasan Image:Kayasan05.JPG, Stone walls near Chilbulbong Peak in Gayasan (1) Image:Kayasan06.JPG, Stone walls near Chilbulbong Peak in Gayasan (2) Image:Kayasan07.JPG, Sangwangbong Peak of Gayasan Image:Kayasan08.JPG, Rituals of Buddhism in Gayasan

Recreation

Gayasan National Park has multiple hiking trails that run through the mountainous park. The most trafficked trail begins in Heinsa Temple and contains a guard station that provides park information for visitors. There are three designated campgrounds within the borders of the park for day use and overnight tent camping.

References

External links

The park's page on Korea National Park Service's website
*
Korea in the Clouds: A Detailed Guide to Hiking Korea's MountainsPrintable Trailmap of Gayasan (from Korea in the Clouds)
{{authority control Parks in South Gyeongsang Province Parks in North Gyeongsang Province National parks of South Korea Mountains of South Korea Protected areas established in 1972 Mountains of North Gyeongsang Province Mountains of South Gyeongsang Province