Jangunsan Mountain (장군산)

What:  Jangunsan Mountain (장군산)

Where:  Yeosu, Jeollanamdo.  Elicia and I (well, mostly me…) have made it a point to hike as many mountains in the Yeosu-area as possible.  Why?

1. Easy to get to.  We work 9am-5pm like normal folks, so we need to plan ahead and have our ‘hiking’ dates!  A bus ride, walk, or quick taxi is all we need to get out of the city and into nature.

2.  Yeosu is beautiful and it’s right by the sea with over 600 islands nearby.  Why not climb UP and enjoy the FREE scenery?

3.  Good exercise.  Korean’s apparently don’t believe in recreational/flat trails.  When they build trails I sometimes think they have a contest to see just how steep they can make them!

Anyways, here is where Jangunsan Mountain.  It’s right by the Hanjae Tunnel in Yeosu.  Gubongsan is one side, and Jangunsan is the other peak adjacent.

We live in Yeoseo-dong. These are the recent mountains we’ve climbed.

Elevation:   Jangunsan Mountain (장군산) is a modest 325m

Get There:

Finding the Hanjae tunnel is pretty easy, it connects the Shinae Market area (with good shopping, food, etc.) with our Yeoseo-dong neighborhood.  This happens to be the tunnel Elicia our bus #777 takes us to and from school every day!

Auxiliary road is right next to Hanjae Tunnel. Climb that, and you can’t miss the trail!

Hiking Highlights:

Photo from auxiliary road right next to Hanjae Tunnel. Sun beginning to set…

Even the smaller, less popular mountains have maps. Pretty rad.

On the way up, you can see Gubongsan Mtn across the way.

Oh, Yeosu.

The Summit:

No sign this time, but a fancy little tower greeted us at the summit.

Sweet Home, Yeosu.

We hung out on the summit for a while.  We could hear car horns, buses, etc beneath us.  It’s so amazing to get done with work, walk 15 minutes to a trail-head and get out of the “city-life”.  We made the summit within an hour and relaxed on top, watching the sun set and the city lights turn on.  Great way to relax after a day of teaching.

Thank you, self-timer.

Jumping pic… is that Cousin It?

Ahh, that’s better.

Goraksan Mtn in the distance, Yeoseo-dong starting to light up.

Final Thoughts:
This trail is very easy to get to from Yeoseo-dong or Shinae area within Yeosu, and because it’s a mere 325m high I think it can be summited by people of nearly all abilities.  The top of this mountain is pretty flat with a large area to hang out and enjoy the scenery, so that’s a bonus.  Besides Goraksan and Gubongsan, this mountain is essentially right next to our apartment, and now I can check it off my list!

PS – we also did this hike at the end of May  :)