Wild Seoul: Granite Peaks, River Islands and the City’s Own Birds

Seoul is ringed by mountains and cut by a great river. Bukhansan National Park rises on its northern edge, the old city wall runs along wooded ridges, and the Han carries islands of wetland through the middle of the city. Here is where to find the wild in Seoul, season by season.

Few capitals have mountains inside their limits. Seoul has a national park on its northern edge, four wooded mountains around its old centre and a broad river running through the middle, and on any clear morning you can climb from a metro station to a granite ridge in an hour.

This is the wild side of Seoul: the peaks, the river, the parks and the birds, and when to see them.

A national park you can reach by metro, and wetland islands in the middle of the river.

Bukhansan: a national park in the city

Bukhansan National Park rises on the northern edge of Seoul: granite peaks, forest trails and Buddhist temples, crossed by paths that start a short ride from the metro (Korea National Park Service, knps.or.kr). Its bare rock summits are among the city’s great sights on a clear day, and the forests below turn red and gold in October.

Start early, wear proper shoes, take water, and stay on the marked trails: the granite is steep and smooth in places.

The wall along the ridges

The Seoul City Wall follows the ridges of the four inner mountains for 18.6 kilometres (seoulcitywall.seoul.go.kr). The Baegak and Inwang sections climb through pine and oak woods and over bare granite, with the whole city laid out below; the Naksan section is the gentlest, lovely at dusk.

The river and its islands

The Han is broad as it passes through Seoul, lined with parks on both banks (hangang.seoul.go.kr). In the middle of the river, below Seogang Bridge, the Bamseom islets have grown into a wild wetland of willows and reeds, left to the birds; they are a protected Ramsar wetland. Watch from the banks: the islets are closed to visitors.

Parks built on the past

Several of Seoul’s greenest places were once something else. Haneul Park, in World Cup Park, is a hilltop of grasses above the Han, silver with plumes of eulalia in October; Seoul Forest, by the river in Seongdong, has woods, ponds and a deer enclosure; Seoul Botanic Park in Magok has a great glasshouse and gardens (parks.seoul.go.kr; seoulforest.or.kr; botanicpark.seoul.go.kr).

The stream through the city

Cheonggyecheon, the restored stream that runs below street level through the business district, has reeds, fish and herons among the office towers, and stepping stones to cross it. Walk it early in the morning, before the city fills up.

Feature: the city’s own symbols

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has its own tree, flower and bird: the ginkgo, whose avenues turn bright yellow in November; the forsythia, the first yellow flower of spring along the river banks and city wall; and the magpie, a bird of good news in Korean folklore, which you will see on every lawn and rooftop.

Did you know? In autumn the city’s ginkgo trees drop fruit that smell strongly: the pavements of the old city are swept constantly in November.

Our advice

Our advice: come in late October for Bukhansan and the palaces in autumn colour, or in April for blossom along the river; in summer, walk the wall early, before the heat.