Hallasan National ParkClaimed by the owner

Hallasan National Park covers the mountain of Hallasan and the surrounding area on Jeju Island, South Korea. Established as the country's ninth national park in 1970, it is managed by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province rather than the Korea National Park Service, the only one of Korea's 22 national parks with this arrangement. Visitors come mainly to hike one of its seven marked trails, two of which lead to the crater lake at the summit.

Trails and terrain

Hallasan rises 1,950 meters above sea level and covers about 153 square kilometers of the island. It is a shield volcano formed during the fourth Cenozoic era and is composed mostly of basalt, with a crater lake called Baengnokdam at the summit. The terrain slopes gently to the east and west but is steep on the south side. Seven trails cross the park: Eorimok (6.8 km, about 3 hours one way), Yeongsil (5.8 km, about 3 hours 15 minutes), Seongpanak (9.6 km, about 4.5 hours, the longest trail and one of two reaching the summit), Seokgulam (1.5 km), Gwaneumsa (8.7 km, about 5 hours, the other summit route), Donnaeko (7 km, about 3.5 hours), and Eoseungsaengak (1.3 km, about 30 minutes). Around the mountain are smaller parasitic cones known as oreum.

Ecology and heritage status

Because of its elevation and isolated position in the northern Pacific, Hallasan supports plant life spanning temperate to subarctic zones, with about 1,800 plant species recorded, including 400 specimen plant species and 50 special plant species. The mountain was designated a natural monument in 1966 and Jeju Island was named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2002, with Hallasan later recognized as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. In Korean tradition it has been counted among the country's three sacred mountains, along with Geumgangsan and Jirisan, and was known historically as Yeongjusan.