The short answer

  • Go between mid-December and February. Many high national park trails close for fire season until mid-December (November 15 to December 15 in 2025).
  • Hallasan without a booking: the Eorimok and Yeongsil trails reach the Witse-oreum snowfields with no reservation. Last entry is 12:00 from October to March. The summit trails need a booking and close to new hikers at 11:30.
  • Easiest rime ice: Deogyusan, where the resort gondola does most of the climbing. Buy gondola tickets through the resort's official site before you go.
  • Bring crampons. The Hallasan park office lists crampons, warm layers, gloves, warm water and emergency food for winter hikes. Starting after a trail's posted entry time counts as entering a closed area.

On a cold, clear morning in January, the trees on Korea’s higher ridges look as if someone has frosted them with a piping bag. Every twig carries white feathers of ice, all pointing the same way into the wind. Koreans call it 상고대 (sanggodae), rime ice, and chasing it is a winter hobby with its own forecasts, bus tours and photo spots.

You don’t need mountaineering skills to see it. You do need the right mountain, the right month and a pair of crampons. This guide compares five winter hikes that work for visitors, from a gondola ride to a proper summit day, using the park offices’ own rules on bookings and cut-off times as of October 2026.

Where can you see rime ice and snow on a Korean mountain?

The surest places are Deogyusan, Hallasan, Taebaeksan, Seonjaryeong and Gyebangsan, all above 1,100 m and all reliably snowy from late December to February. Rime forms best on high, exposed ridges, so height and wind matter more than distance from Seoul.

🏔️ Five winter snow hikes compared (as of October 2026; bus times from a timetable aggregator, so check before you travel)

HikeHighest pointWhere you startBooking?EffortFrom Seoul
Deogyusan by gondolaHyangjeokbong, 1,614 mGondola top station at Seolcheonbong, 1,520 mGondola ticket from the resortAbout 20 min walk each way from the gondolaSeoul Nambu Terminal bus to Muju Resort, about 3 h 10 min, one departure a day
Hallasan, Eorimok or YeongsilWitse-oreum shelter, about 1,700 mEorimok or Yeongsil trailhead, JejuNoYeongsil: 5.8 km one way from the rest area to Nambyeok junction, about 2 h 30 minFlight to Jeju, then bus
Hallasan summit, SeongpanakBaengnokdam, 1,950 mSeongpanak trailhead, about 750 mYes, summit section9.6 km one way, about 4 h 30 minFlight to Jeju, then bus 281
TaebaeksanJanggunbong, 1,567 mSeveral trailheads in Taebaeksan National ParkNoHalf-day; check the park’s route page for distancesDong Seoul bus to Taebaek, about 2 h 50 min
Seonjaryeong1,157 mOld Daegwallyeong rest area, about 830–840 mNoLoop of about 10.8 km, 4–5 hDong Seoul bus to Hoenggye, about 2 h 10 min, then taxi
Gyebangsan1,577 mUnduryeong pass, 1,089 mNoAbout 4.1 km one way, roughly 2 hCar is the realistic option
Which one to pick: First winter hike, or not much hiking experience? Take the Deogyusan gondola, or walk Hallasan's Yeongsil trail if you're already on Jeju. Want a day trip by bus from Seoul? Seonjaryeong. Want a festival with your snow? Taebaeksan in late January or February. Driving, fit and after the best rime? Gyebangsan.

Background

상고대 rime ice is not snow. It forms when tiny droplets in fog or cloud stay liquid below freezing, then freeze the moment they touch a branch, building white crystals on the side facing the wind. Snow sitting on branches is a different thing, which Koreans call 눈꽃 (nunkkot, snow flowers). Rime needs a humid, freezing night and is best early in the morning. Once the sun warms the trees, it starts dropping off, often before midday.

How do you see Deogyusan's rime ice by gondola?

Ride the tourist gondola at Muju Deogyusan Resort to Seolcheonbong, then walk about 20 minutes to the 1,614 m summit, Hyangjeokbong. Herald Economy reported in December 2025 that the gondola reaches Seolcheonbong, at 1,520 m, in about 15 minutes. That makes Deogyusan the one high-mountain rime walk in Korea that most people can do in ordinary fitness, as long as they have crampons for the icy summit path.

The catch is the ticket. The gondola is popular enough that tickets for busy days go fast. Herald Economy reported that the New Year’s Day sunrise gondola went on sale through the resort’s website at 17:00 on December 19, 2025, and sells out quickly every year. For regular winter days, the resort’s own gondola page sets the rules: from October to February, weekend and public-holiday rides must be booked online, with booking opening at 17:00 two weeks ahead (counting the ride day), while weekday tickets are sold on site. The general fare is ₩25,000 round trip for adults and ₩20,000 for children (36 months to elementary school), or ₩20,000 and ₩16,000 one way (as of October 2026). Under-36-month children ride free with proof of age.

Practical tip

  • Go on a weekday if you can. Weekend and holiday tickets are the hard ones to get.
  • Take an early gondola. Rime is at its best in the morning and thins out as the sun climbs.
  • Gondolas stop in strong wind. Check the resort's notices on the morning you go.
  • The bus is limited. One direct bus a day leaves Seoul Nambu Terminal for Muju Resort at 07:40, about 3 h 10 min and ₩31,200 in a premium coach, according to a timetable aggregator updated October 28, 2026. Confirm on the bus booking site before you go.

📍 Open in Naver Map — Muju Deogyusan Resort

Do you need a reservation to hike Hallasan in winter?

Only for the summit. The Seongpanak and Gwaneumsa trails need a booking for the final section to Baengnokdam crater, while Eorimok and Yeongsil, the classic snow-field walks, need none. The park office’s winter hours apply from October 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, and all trails open for entry from 5 a.m., according to its September 2026 announcement.

❄️ Hallasan winter trail rules, October to March (Hallasan National Park reservation site)

TrailBooking needed?Last entryMust turn back byOne way
EorimokNo12:00 at the trailhead15:00 leaving Witse-oreum6.8 km to Witse-oreum, about 2 h (Wikitree)
YeongsilNo12:00 at the trailhead15:00 leaving Witse-oreum; 14:00 at Nambyeok junction5.8 km from the rest area, about 2 h 30 min
SeongpanakYes, Jindallaebat to the summit11:30 at the trailhead and Jindallaebat13:30 leaving the summit9.6 km, about 4 h 30 min
GwaneumsaYes, Samgakbong to the summit11:30 at the trailhead and Samgakbong13:30 leaving the summit8.7 km, about 5 h
DonnaekoNo10:0014:00 at Nambyeok junction7 km, about 3 h 30 min

Hallasan bookings open at 09:00 on the first working day of the month before your hike, on visithalla.jeju.go.kr. For this winter, that works out to:

Your entry QR code arrives by text, so type your phone number carefully. There’s no waiting list, and a no-show without cancelling bans you from booking for three months. The full system, and the fines that go with it, are in our national park fines guide.

Two more winter rules. During a heavy-snow advisory or warning, the park closes trails partly or fully, so check the Hallasan National Park site on the morning you go. And the road from the Yeongsil management office up to the Yeongsil rest area, about 2.4 km, is open only to vehicles with 12 seats or fewer, so big tour buses stop lower down.

Getting to the trailheads without a car

Bus 281 runs past Seongpanak, about 45 minutes from Jeju Bus Terminal. Route 240 serves Eorimok and Yeongsil on the 1100 Road, and in the last two winters Jeju added extra "Hallasan snowflake buses" on that road: weekends from late December 2024, and more frequent runs in winter 2025-26, Asia Economy reported. We found no 2026-27 timetable yet. Our Jeju without a rental car guide covers fares and transfers, and Jeju activities: what to book ahead covers the rest of the island.

📍 Open in Naver Map — Yeongsil trail

When is the Taebaeksan Snow Festival 2027?

Taebaek hasn’t announced the 2027 dates as of October 30, 2026. The last two festivals ran from January 31 to February 8, 2026 (the 33rd edition) and from February 7 to 16, 2025, according to Twig24 and Pressian. Expect late January to mid-February again, and check the Taebaek city or Taebaek City Culture Foundation channels from December.

The festival is held around Taebaeksan National Park. The 2026 edition had large snow sculptures, snow and ice sledding, an igloo café and a snow-flower climbing event on February 7, Twig24 reported. The mountain itself is the bigger draw: the summit ridge (Janggunbong, 1,567 m, with the Cheonjedan stone altar nearby) is known for old yew trees, 주목 (jumok), buried in snow.

Getting there is easy by Korean standards. Buses from Dong Seoul Bus Terminal to Taebaek run about 25 times a day, taking roughly 2 h 50 min, with premium-coach fares from ₩38,400, according to a timetable aggregator updated October 22, 2026. For other January festivals near Seoul, see our Hwacheon ice festival 2027 guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map — Taebaeksan National Park

Which snow hikes can you do from Seoul without a tour?

Seonjaryeong is the easiest: a bus to Hoenggye, a short taxi ride, and a gentle ridge loop of about 10.8 km. Gyebangsan has better rime but realistically needs a car.

Seonjaryeong (1,157 m). The trail starts at the old Daegwallyeong rest area, already about 830–840 m up, so you only climb around 325 m. The loop takes 4–5 hours, past a row of wind turbines on the Baekdudaegan ridge, according to the government’s Korea.kr and a January 2026 Kyeongbuk Maeil feature. The ridge path is open and windy, which is exactly why the rime is good. The forest path down is steeper and can be icy after heavy snow, so crampons are essential. Buses from Dong Seoul to Hoenggye run about 8 times a day and take about 2 h 10 min (from ₩22,900), per the same aggregator. From Hoenggye, take a taxi to the trailhead.

Seonjaryeong is not in a national park, so the park entry-time system doesn’t apply. Mountain trails run by local governments and the Korea Forest Service can still close in fire season, though: in autumn 2025 that ran from October 20 to December 15, according to Korea.kr. If the wind is brutal, nearby Balwangsan has a cable car of about 3.7 km to near its 1,458 m summit.

📍 Open in Naver Map — Seonjaryeong

Gyebangsan (1,577 m). South Korea’s fifth-highest peak starts from Unduryeong, a road pass at 1,089 m, which leaves about 4.1 km and 488 m of climbing to the top, Seoul Shinmun reported. It sits inside Odaesan National Park, and in 2025 its Unduryeong sections were on the November 15 to December 15 fire-season closure list, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. Older guides list local buses from Jinbu to Unduryeong, but we couldn’t confirm a current timetable, so plan on driving.

📍 Open in Naver Map — Unduryeong (Gyebangsan)

Staying closer to Seoul? Bukhansan gets snow too, and our Bukhansan gear rental guide explains where to borrow boots and crampons in the city.

What time do you have to start a winter hike in a Korean national park?

Early. Every national park trail has a posted last-entry time, and on high trails it moves earlier in winter, usually to late morning or around noon. At most parks the switch happens on November 1. Starting after the cut-off counts as entering a closed area, which costs ₩200,000 for a first offence under the Natural Parks Act.

We couldn’t load the Korea National Park Service’s entry-hours page while writing this, so we haven’t listed Deogyusan, Taebaeksan or Odaesan times here. Check that page (knps.or.kr, under 입산시간) or the sign at the trailhead, and see our fines guide for sample winter windows at Bukhansan, Seoraksan and Jirisan.

Are mountain trails closed in late autumn and early spring?

Yes. Korea closes many high trails during the two wildfire seasons, which is why mid-December to February is the snow-hiking window.

What gear do you need for a Korean snow hike?

Crampons, proper boots, warm layers and something hot to drink. The Hallasan park office’s own winter list is winter clothing, 아이젠 (aijen, crampons), gloves, warm water, spare clothes and emergency food, and that list works for every hike in this guide.

Winter hike checklist

  • Crampons. Strap-on chain crampons are what most Korean hikers use. Outdoor shops sell them, and Seoul's hiking support centers lend them.
  • Waterproof hiking boots and gaiters. Trainers get soaked and slip.
  • Layers: base layer, fleece, windproof shell and a down jacket for stops. Our winter survival guide covers layering and heat packs.
  • Hat, gloves and a spare pair of gloves. Wet gloves on a windy ridge go numb fast.
  • Hot water in a thermos, plus snacks that don't freeze hard. Gas stoves and cooking are banned on Hallasan and outside designated areas in national parks.
  • Head torch. Winter days are short, and you need to be down before dark.
  • Charged phone, kept warm in an inside pocket, because cold drains batteries.
  • Your trail's last-entry time, written down, and a turnaround time you'll actually stick to.

If something goes wrong, call 119 and read out the number on the nearest trail location post, which tells rescuers exactly where you are. Hallasan’s park office asks for this specifically. Our 119 and emergency guide explains how interpreting works on the call.

Sources