Halla Mountain visitors totaled about 904,000 last year

연합뉴스 / 2026-01-13 10:06:27

▲ This photo provided by the readership shows snow-covered Baengnokdam Crater on Mount Halla on South Korea’s southern island of Jeju. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

JEJU, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- The number of visitors to Mount Halla on South Korea’s southern island of Jeju remained in the 900,000 range last year, with the Yeongsil trail drawing the largest number of hikers, park officials said Tuesday.

According to the Halla Mountain National Park Management Office, a total of 903,999 people visited the national park in 2025, down 2.6 percent, or 24,410 people, from 928,409 in 2024.

Visitor numbers have shown a long-term decline from 1,255,731 in 2015 to 1,065,898 in 2016, 1,001,440 in 2017, 891,817 in 2018 and 848,279 in 2019.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the figure dropped further to 699,117 in 2020 and 652,706 in 2021 before rebounding to 850,744 in 2022. Since 2023, annual visitors have again exceeded 900,000.

By trail, the Yeongsil course recorded the highest number of visitors at 323,644, followed by Eorimok with 274,465, Seongpanak with 224,442, Gwaneumsa with 78,076 and Donneko with 3,372.

Compared with 2024, visitor numbers increased by 3.2 percent on the Eorimok trail and 0.1 percent on Seongpanak, while they fell by 3.8 percent on Yeongsil, 20.4 percent on Gwaneumsa and 9.9 percent on Donneko.

Until a few years ago, Seongpanak was the most popular route, but since 2023, Yeongsil has attracted the largest number of hikers, followed by Eorimok.

To protect the mountain, a reservation system has been in place since 2021 for the Seongpanak and Gwaneumsa trails, which lead to the summit at Baengnokdam Crater Lake, limiting daily visitors to 1,000 and 500, respectively.

The Yeongsil and Eorimok trails do not reach the summit, but hikers can access Witseoreum and the Southern Cliff Junction without advance reservations.