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Busan is a great city – one of our favorites in South Korea! Temples, hiking, beaches, food markets, the list of what to do in Busan is endless. And if you’re looking for unique things to do in Busan, we have you covered with this one! We took a day to go visit one of Busan’s most unique temples, located just outside the city, right on a mountain, and steps from one of the best hiking trails in Busan. Read on to learn more about hiking Mount Geumjeongsan, and about Beomeosa Temple. This day of hiking Mount Geumjeongsan ended up being one of the highlights of our time in Busan, and South Korea. But in hindsight, there are a few things we wished we knew before hiking this Korean mountain.

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How to get to Beomeosa Temple & Mount Geumjeongsan

Getting to Mount Geumjeongsan and to Beomeosa temple is quite easy. The journey to get to Mount Geumjeongsan from our hotel in Haeundae is simple.

The simplest way is to head to Beomosa Temple. Take the subway to the Beomosa station on Busan’s subway line 1. Once you get there, jump onto bus number 90 and get off at the Beomeosa Ticket Office Bus Stop. The whole trip to the temple took us a little over an hour. Just be sure to check what time the bus leaves, because it’s not a very popular bus route.

What to know about Beomosa Temple

Beomosa Temple is also known as the temple of the Nirvana fish, which is a pretty cool name if you ask me! It was built in 678 and for a fee, you can stay here with the resident monks to get the full experience. Also pretty cool!

The temple itself was really nice, especially on a nice sunny day like we had. All the colorful lanterns were gently rocking in the wind, and every so often, you could see the monks crossing the courtyard to get from one hall to the next. We might have gotten a little too excited when we saw them doing this for the first time – we rushed to snap a pic (amateur tourist move, we know).

Hiking Mount Geumjeongsan, one of the best hiking trails in Busan

From Beomosa Temple, there is a nice hike up to Geumjeong Fortress. The hike was supposed to take roughly an hour, so we said: “why not give it a go” and see what this fortress is all about! Another hiking adventure!

After taking in the sights at the temple, we set off on our hike up Mount Geumjeongsan. We left the temple and followed the little signs that pointed to Geumjeong Fortress. The hike mainly takes you through the forest. The path is well-marked and the incline is not so steep. The path is also well-maintained so it can be climbed in running shoes.

And just like most hikes in South Korea, expect to run into quite a few people eager to say “Hello”. If you’re feeling cheeky, answer back with “annyeong haseyo” and watch their eyes light up!

The forest is beautifully lush with a path that followed a small creek for most of its length. You don’t need to worry about the sun or its heat as the path is quite shaded. It was so peaceful and quiet there that we picked some flat rocks, sat down, closed our eyes and meditated for a little while.

There’s something so humbling and calming about sitting in the forest. You can just hear the sounds of the creek running, the birds chirping; being still for a few moments, feeling connected to everything around us.

What to know about hiking from Beomeosa temple to Geumjeong Fortress

Once we reached the north gate of Geumjeong Fortress, a few things dawned on us. The first was that this fortress was literally just a long wall that served as a naval base centuries ago. It has one gates, one at each compass point. On the hike up Mount Geumjeongsan, you will run into only one of the gates.

Parts of the fortress walls are still very well-maintained. Seeing how far the fortress extended was far more impressive than we imagined. However, to see the full extent of this massive fortress, we knew what we had to do. We were nowhere near the peak of the mountain. We had to get to the top, pronto!

At this point, we were in no man’s land. We didn’t know how long it would take to get up and back down. We were starting to get hungry and realized that we didn’t pack any snacks (lesson learned, now we always bring snacks with us). That wasn’t going to stop us though. The view we would get from the top would be worth pushing through our hunger!

A chance encounter with the cats of Mount Geumjeongsan

Along the way, we started to notice something out of the ordinary. At first, we saw a stray cat and tried to lure it to us. Being cat lovers, this always happens. We miss our cat Jax, so any chance we have to get a little cat love in we take.

But as we kept climbing, we started to notice more cats. And more cats. Oh, and MORE cats. They were everywhere! Now, don’t think we are complaining, cause wait, did we mention that we love cats? Well, we do, and this was a nice little surprise that the hike had to offer.

Once we got to the top, we were well-rewarded. The views were breath-taking. From the beginning of our trip, this wasn’t the highest mountain we gazed down from, after all, we were in the Canadian Rocky Mountains just a few weeks earlier. But this had a different feel to it.

For one, we climbed this Korean mountain, our first real hike of the trip (but certainly not our last) instead of taking a gondola up. Secondly, from the summit, we could see Busan, all the way to the sea. No wonder they put this fortress up here, no one is sneaking up on them with this vantage point!

What you need to do about hiking Mount Geumjeongsan

All in all, it probably took us about 3-4 hours to do the hike (counting the mediation and the cat-loving). It’s not at all a hard or steep a hike. It can easily be done if you are a beginner, the trail is well-maintained, groomed, and has a small incline, most of the time. The end of the hike up the mountain has stairs, so if you take your time, you’ll get there easy-peasy!

We do have a few important recommendations about doing the hike:

1. Bring snacks. There are no convenience stores or restaurants near the temple. There are a few stores when you get off the subway, near the bus stop.
2. Don’t forget your water. The #1 rule ‘Always bring water’…. how could we forget! There are a few fountains along the way, but they are few and far between. If you have a reusable water bottle, you can fill it up at one of the fountains. If you have a Lifestraw Go, you can even grab water from the creek.
3. Take your time. It’s probably not a long hike if you don’t stop, but there are so many great spots to just sit and take in all the beauty around. So don’t be so rushed to get back to the city… unless you get hangry and need to eat.
4. Check out the bus schedule. The bus to get back to the subway station doesn’t pass very often later in the afternoon. So make sure you check the schedule so you don’t get stranded on your way back. The road isn’t frequently used either so cabs don’t pass very often.

Here is a short video we made that shows the whole route up to the top.

We had a great time hiking Mount Geumjeongsan. It was an easy hike, with beautiful views at the top. The best part was combining it with the Beomosa temple.

We hope these tips helped. Let us know in the comments if there are any questions we didn’t answer. It’ll be our pleasure to help you make the best of this beautiful hike up Mount Geumjeongsan.

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