An escape from the hustle and bustle of Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, Geumjeongsanseong Fortress makes for an easy half-day hike. You can explore streams and ponds, rock caves and granite peaks, and thickly forested hills, enjoying stunning panoramic views overlooking the countryside and the city of Busan. Many visitors begin their short hike to Geumjeongsanseong with a stop at the Buddhist temple of Beomeosa, located on the eastern edge of the fortress, or Seokbulsa, another Buddhist temple famed for its cliff carvings reachable through a longer trek.
There are multiple ways to reach the fortress. Many people use Beomeosa Temple (reachable from Oncheonjang subway station) as the starting point for a hike up to Geumjeongsanseong South Gate—it takes about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on your speed. There is also a cable car with panoramic views from Geumgang Park, and from there, you can head to South Gate on foot. Continue hiking between gates or following other trails that splinter off the main route, or head back down.
Summer is peak time for Busan when the beaches swell with locals and tourists. While Mount Geumjeongsanseong has an altitude of around 2,625 feet (800 meters), making it a little cooler than the city it overlooks, fall and spring are better weather windows for hiking outside the city. Watch out for icy conditions in the winter.
While some visitors only visit Beomeosa as a quick bathroom break en route to the hilltop fortress trail, the more-than-millennium-old Buddhist temple merits a closer look. You’ll find traditional pavilions and pagodas (like the three-story Iljumun Gate) and no less than 11 hermitages—in fact, Beomeosa even runs a temple stay program for long-stay visitors to come and immerse themselves in Buddhist philosophy and culture.