Dolsan Coastal Trek

Overview:
If you haven’t already done so, please be sure to check out my post on Course #1 because I provide some relevant information about this coastal trek. If you’re interested, there’s a comprehensive website complete with trail maps and information, but it’s all in Korean. You can check that site out here if you wish. Below is a map I made with the help of Naver Maps that shows both trekking courses:

Course #1 Specifics

Course #2 Specifics
Unlike Course #1 which had a total of 12 sections and totaled 22.5km, Course #2 has just five sections and covers 17.0km of Dolsan Island’s eastern coast. It begins where Course #1 finishes, and that’s at Mulsulmok Beach. At the finish, you’re rewarded with the nice and sandy Bangjukpo Beach. Below is a map from getga.org and like before, I’ve added the start and end points of Musulmok and Bangjukpo beaches, respectively.

Similar to Course #1, this second course winds its way up and down and around the cliffs and shorelines of the beautiful and rugged coast of Dolsan Island. Course #2 is also marked with with a combination of posts (to distinguish sections), blue spray-painted turtles, and yellow/orange trail ribbons.

Hiking Highlights:
After a successful day completing Course #1 on Saturday, we camped at Mulsulmok Beach and woke up around 8:30am, much later than originally planned. Our goal was to hit the road by 7:00am, but that just wasn’t in the cards! Elicia and I packed up our tent, hammock and other belongings and found out the others were pretty tired and sore and preferred to lounge around and head back to Suncheon instead of hiking Course #2. After all, we just hiked over 25.0km yesterday and the thought of hiking another 17.0km was a bit daunting given the heavier-than-normal packs and heavy, tired legs. So, just Elicia and I rolled out of Mulsulmok Beach, making our way across the rocky beach and into the woods. Tired, but ready to go:

We quickly noticed the number of military bunkers, buildings, and shelters that were along Course #2. Personally I thought they were really interesting, and I wondered if the Korean military uses them today for any training operations or as observation decks.

The weather on this Sunday wasn’t as clear as the day before, but it wasn’t threatening rain. The temperature was significantly cooler, so we welcomed that. We also enjoyed the coastline, and we found a spot very similar to this to have a late breakfast (or early lunch?) around 11:00am.

One unique section included an open field where two goats were hanging out, one on each side of the trail.

I love the noise these animals make.

So, after the goat-excitement we continued along the trail, making pretty good time in the overcast but beautiful conditions. The visibility out into the sea was pretty minimal, so I didn’t capture too many pictures along this course. However, I’d say there were far less villages and houses to walk by on this second course compared to the first course.

After about three hours of hiking and maybe 10km into the second course, we came across a fairly big military area. There were no people, but clearly it was used for observation or training purposes in the past. We poked around for a while and I began thinking about the Korean War in the early 1950’s and how it really wasn’t that long ago. My oh my how this country of South Korea has built up since the completion of the war. It’s cool that bunkers like these are still there, letting nature take them back.

About 14km into the trek (roughly 3km north of Bangjukpo Beach) there’s a big, white lighthouse out on a little peninsula. Elicia and I sat down here for a while to eat and drink till our hearts were content. By this time it was nearing 1pm and we were almost done with the second course!

I’d say the second course had a few more ups and downs than the first course, but they are pretty similar in elevation change. Towards the end of this Course #2, the trail stays tucked in the woods, somewhat high up along a ridge. Walking south, the sea is on your left and the mountains on your right. This particular stretch was really quiet and peaceful. On Saturday, we saw about three other hikers besides our group of eight people. On Sunday while trekking Course #2, Elicia and I saw a few couples and maybe one other person. In other words, you can definitely hike most of this trail and feel like you’re the only one(s) out there.

Around 2:00pm Elicia and I rolled into Bangjukpo Beach, so the 17.0km took us about five hours to complete. We did take a couple breaks around the military areas and to snack, but otherwise we kept a pretty good pace, especially along the flat areas.

All-in-all, I am so pleased the group from Suncheon organized this trip out to Dolsan to explore these courses. I’d highly recommend them for any hiking/trekking enthusiast, and I was again surprised by the natural beauty the southern coastal area of Yeosu has to offer. I’m continually amazed that mountains, coastline, and trails like these are just out our back door. I’m excited to explore the third (and fourth?) course(s) soon, I anticipate the next courses will be just as spectacular as the first two.

Doing both of these courses are possible on a Saturday/Sunday like we did, but you could also do any segment of the course and fairly easily catch a city bus back north towards Yeosu. If you have any questions or comments about this coastal trek, please let me know as I’d be happy to help you out.

Overview:
The Dolsan Coastal Trek (여수갯가길 – pronounced ‘Yo-su get-gah-geel’) is a newly established trail system that follows the beautiful coastline of Dolsan Island, which is just south of Yeosu in the rural South Korean province of Jeollanamdo. Currently there are two courses open, but I believe the goal is continue and add another course or two so the trail will run all the way to the southeast corner of Dolsan, terminating at Hyangiram.

There’s a comprehensive website complete with maps and information, but it’s all in Korean. You can check the site out here if you wish.

Below is a map I made that shows both courses:

Course #1 Specifics
Course #1 begins very close to Dolsan Bridge (돌산대교). It starts just south of the bridge where there’s a strip of seafood restaurants and a replica turtle ship. There is a little map with some information at the official starting point, but again it’s all in Korean (seems to be a common theme with this particular hiking course). Course #1 is approximately 22.5km and generally hugs the shoreline except for a few spots of walking inland and along roads for a few hundred meters. For most people, it will take 5-8 hours to complete depending on your pace and how many stops you take. Musulmok Beach(무술목해변) marks the end of Course #1 and the beginning of Course #2. Both courses are relatively flat, but they weave their way along the eastern coast of Dolsan Island, so naturally there’s some ups and downs. However, you won’t find any long and strenuous climbs, nor will you find anything very technical. In my opinion the trail is clearly marked throughout because of these little blue turtles (pictured below), which are scattered just about everywhere along the trail to keep you on track. There’s also trail posts and trail ribbons throughout both courses.

Below is a nice map of Course #1 taken from getga.org. I have labeled the start near Dolsan Bridge and the finish at Musulmok Beach. The different colors represent the 12 sections of Course #1.

Hiking Highlights:
A couple weekends ago, a group of five from Suncheon and three of us from Yeosu met at the turtle ship near Dolsan Bridge around 9:30am and began Course #1. The goal was to complete Course #1 on Saturday, camp at Musulmok Beach, and finish Course #2 on Sunday.

The first part of the trek goes up to Dolsan Park (where you can see a great view of Dolsan Bridge) and then winds under Geobukseon Bridge (거북선대교). From this section you’re able to see some nice views of Odongdo Island (오동도), Yeosu city, and several large ships in the harbor. Next, the trail goes through a small residential area, shipbuilding yard, and piers for boats.

The trail does a good job of hugging the coast – we were often walking within meters of the water, hopping over large rocks or maybe even walking on a service road next to where small, local fishing boats are docked.

Around every corner was a beautiful view of the coast, often with boats and islands in the distance. Sometimes we were hiking through the woods, but the sea was still in sight:

We didn’t see too many people, but when we did, it seemed like they were hard at work. Sometimes they were fishing like this guy:

And other times they were tending to the fields like this lady below.

The further we got from Yeosu city and the Dolsan Bridge, the quieter it seemed to get. The trail seemed to alternate between undulating terrain next to the rocky coast and flat sections that guided you around some housing communities. We weren’t near any main roads, so they were just quiet, sleepy little villages much like these two examples:

After about 10km of trekking, we arrived at Yongwolsa Temple (용월사) which is strategically located right next to the coast. Whether you’re a lover of Korean temples or you’re of the mindset ‘seen one – seen them all’, I think you could appreciate this quaint but beautiful temple because of it’s location.

Our group hung out here for a while, refilling our water bottles and enjoying the landscape.

We had been hiking approximately three hours so far, and everyone remained in good spirits and had plenty of energy left to continue. They had vending machines here that sold drinks, one of the very few opportunities on Course #1 to either refill your bottles or purchase something.

It should be noted here that there is a road that reaches this temple – so if you’d like to visit and don’t feel like hiking 10km, don’t worry! You can simply drive or take a taxi (Yeosu city buses don’t go here) to Yongwolsa Temple to check it out.

Collectively we decided it was time to push on towards Mulsulmok Beach, so we threw our heavy packs back onto our shoulders and reconnected with the trail. I was carrying my 70L backpack with tent, sleeping pads, hammock, a few clothes and some food/drinks for dinner because we would set up camp at Musulmok Beach. Usually my pack is a lot lighter, so this was a good test of fitness to lug all this gear along – – perhaps good training for future multi-day treks… right?

The trail had new surprises around just about every corner. Sometimes we walked through overgrown fields (like above) where we could see the blue sky above. Other times we found ourselves walking through natural tunnels made from either small bamboo forests or a variety of trees (like below).

Course #1 proved to have a lot of variety of vegetation and change of scenery, so the trekking never really became boring or redundant. I really enjoyed hiking through the dense woods next to the ocean, as it was often the most remote and secluded parts. However, I also enjoyed walking next to little inlets and bays much like this one:

We often hear about how important the fishing industry is for these coastal communities… and based on the number of houses we saw (often very few), I’d venture to guess that a large percentage of the local residents own some sort of boat for fishing.

After walking through a little village, the trail would often lead you into the woods and steer you around the next twists and turns of the island. Some of my favorite scenery is when little nearby islands dot the horizon like this:

For much of the trek on Course #1, the water quality was surprisingly good. It was, however, disheartening to see the litter and debris that build up along the shore. It’s a bummer to see and think about it and what impact it’s having on the beauty and natural environment, but it’s clearly a result of the amount of industrial fishing and farming that occurs in these waters. I just hope the presence of trash isn’t a result of carelessness or apathy. Dolsan Island (much like the rest of South Korea) has so much beauty, I’d hate for it to get ruined now during this time of rapid economic growth so future generations can’t fully enjoy it.

It really is quiet and peaceful out here on Dolsan Island.

We continued trekking deep into the afternoon and as we were about 1km from Mulsulmok Beach, we stumbled upon these older women who were clearly in the middle of a Saturday afternoon project. Exchanging hellos and smiles with them was a delight.

At around 4:00pm, after roughly six hours of hiking, we arrived at Mulsulmok Beach. This particular beach is long but pretty rocky, and there’s actually no sand here. Despite that fact, it has a wonderful setting with good bathroom facilities and a few places to set up a tent (or hammock) if you have one. There’s also a Maritime & Fisheries Science Museum located right at Mulsulmok Beach if you have some time and want to take a peek.

Because we did a little side-trip during one section of the trail, we ended up hiking about 25km, but Course #1 should be about 22.5km if you stick to the trail. Needless to say, our legs were a bit heavy from the 6+ hours of trekking and it felt great to get them up in our double-hammock for a quick nap.

After the short snooze we went to a little convenience store to grab some noodles and other snacks for dinner. Across the road from Mulsulmok Beach we happened to catch a pretty neat sunset:

In typical fashion, we made a beach campfire, roasted marshmallows for s’mores, passed a guitar around (to those who could play!) and exchanged interesting stories amongst the group. The celebratory beers tasted absolutely perfect after a day exploring Course #1 along the Dolsan Coastal Trek.