''Gwanaksan'' () is a mountain in southern
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
, South Korea. Portions lie in the
Gwanak District and
Geumcheon District of Seoul; other portions lie in the neighboring cities of
Anyang, Gyeonggi and
Gwacheon.
The name ''gwanak'' means "hat-shaped peak," and refers to its
''gat''-like profile. Thus Gwanaksan literally means "mountain of the hat-shaped peak". Together with Songaksan in
Kaesong
Kaesong (, ; ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region cl ...
,
Gamaksan in
Paju,
Uaksan in
Pocheon, and
Hwaaksan in
Gapyeong, Gwanaksan was long considered one of the five representative peaks of
Gyeonggi Province (''gyeonggi o-ak'').
The main campus of
Seoul National University
Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities.
The university's main c ...
is located just northwest of the mountain, and the Gwacheon national government complex lies to the east. Also nearby is the
Anyang Resort Area, a popular local tourist attraction. On the mountain itself lie numerous
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
temples, including
Wongaksa. Most of the mountain slope is protected land. The mountain is very popular with older climbers, since it can easily be reached by Seoul's public transportation. Annual hiking traffic is close to 5 million people.
The Seoul side was designated a city park in 1968.
Trails
Seoul National University Entrance (11.3 km, 4 hours)
Siheung-dong (11 km, 3 hours, 30 minutes)
Anyang amusement park (12 km, 4 hours, 30 minutes)
Gallery
See also
*
List of mountains in Seoul
*
List of mountains in Korea
The following is a list of mountains in Korea:
List of mountains in North Korea Pyongyang
* Taesongsan () –
Chagang Province
* Namsan (Chagang), Namsan () –
* Obongsan (Chagang), Obongsan () –
North Pyongan Province
* Myohyangsan () †...
*
Yangjaecheon
References
Further reading
{{cite journal , last1=Bayer , first1=Achim , title=Water, Fire, and the Ascent Above the Mountain: Symbolism and Its Application in a Buddhist Temple on Mt. Gwan'ak (å† å²³å±±), Seoul , journal=Kanazawa Seiryo University Bulletin of the Humanities , date=2023 , volume=7, issue=1 , pages=77–91
Mountains of Seoul
Mountains of Gyeonggi Province
Gwanak District
Geumcheon District
Anyang, Gyeonggi
Gwacheon
Mountains of South Korea