Line © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), checked by Global Adventurer.
The walk
From the car park below the ticket office, walk up through the gateway and onto the paved path that climbs the west side of the cone. Stairs and platforms lead steeply up past rock pinnacles, with the sea and Seongsan village falling away below, to the viewing deck on the crater rim of Seongsan Ilchulbong (성산일출봉). The crater, about 600 m across, is a bowl of grass ringed by jagged rocks. Come down by the separate path on the other side of the stairs, back to the gate.
It is 1.6 km round with 104 m of ascent; allow about an hour. The grade is Easy, but the stairs are steep and busy.
Adults pay 5,000 won; Jeju residents and young children go free. The cone opens at 04:30 in summer, 05:00 in spring and autumn and 06:00 in winter, so walkers can be on top for sunrise, and closes at 20:00, 19:00 or 18:00. It is shut on the first Monday of each month, and food may not be taken in.
The car park is a few minutes' walk from Seongsan village, where buses from Jeju city and Seogwipo stop.
Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.
Good to know
- Seongsan Ilchulbong, 'sunrise peak', is a tuff cone raised by an eruption in shallow sea about 5,000 years ago
- Its crater is about 600 m across
- It is part of Jeju's UNESCO World Natural Heritage site
- Jeju's women divers, the haenyeo, still work the shore at its foot
Getting there
Start: Seongsan Ilchulbong car park. 33.46201, 126.93537
Directions to the start
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KakaoMap and Naver Map, the maps Korea uses, give public transport from where you are.
Places to stay nearby
Rooms in and around Jeju: Booking.com → Expedia → Hotels.com →
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Paths change, and the weather decides the day. The line and figures come from OpenStreetMap and our own checks; take a map, check the forecast, and turn back if it isn't right.
