Geumjeongsan became a national park on 3 March 2026, Korea’s twenty-fourth, and the first one the government designated as urban. The label is literal: the park covers 66.859 square kilometres across six Busan districts, and you get to it on the subway. No reservation, no permit, no fee.
Safety
No permit, reservation or entrance fee is required. Geumjeongsan became a national park on 3 March 2026, so rules are still being settled under the new management office. Free and reservation-free is the position as of September 2026; check before you go.
Geumjeongsan became a national park on 3 March 2026 and is still in transition to national park management. Trail rules, closures and facility arrangements published before that date may be out of date. Check the national park office page before you go.
Published walking times for the numbered city trails are brisk. Trail 1 lists 1 hour 40 minutes for 5,070 m and Trail 26 lists 1 hour 38 minutes for 3,830 m. Plan on longer if you are not moving continuously.
Trail 1: Gyeongdong Apartments to GodangbongPrimary
Reaches summit
Easy
To summit
5.07 km
Time
1 h 42 m
Geumjeong-gu numbers 27 marked trails on the mountain. Trail 1 is the longest of them and one of only two that finish on Godangbong, the summit: 5,070 m by way of Gyemyeongbong. The district lists its maximum elevation difference as 663 m.
The published time is 1 hour 40 minutes. Treat that as a brisk local pace rather than a planning figure - most visitors carrying a camera and stopping at the fortress wall will take longer.
Trail 26: Wonhyojeongsa to Godangbong
Reaches summit
Moderate
To summit
3.83 km
Time
1 h 36 m
Trail 26 is the other route that tops out on Godangbong: 3,830 m, with the largest maximum elevation difference the district lists for any marked trail here, 750 m.
More than a kilometre shorter than Trail 1 to the same summit. If you want the top and you do not want to spend the day on it, this is the trade.
Trail 21: Hwamyeong Waterworks to Sanggyebong via Paribong
Turns around at Sanggyebong
Easy
One way
5 km
Time
1 h 30 m
Trail 21 runs 5,000 m over Paribong to Sanggyebong on the western side of the ridge, with a maximum elevation difference of 585 m. It does not reach Godangbong.
Two named peaks and a long ridge line make it the better choice if you want views and distance rather than a summit tick.
Trail 2: Beomeosa to the North Gate
Turns around at the North Gate
Moderate
One way
1.45 km
Time
42 m
The shortest marked trail on the mountain: 1,450 m and about 40 minutes from behind Beomeosa up to the North Gate of Geumjeongsanseong. Its maximum elevation difference is 259 m, so it is short rather than flat.
This is the one most visitors arriving by subway actually walk. Beomeosa Station on Line 1, bus 90 to the temple, then the trail. It stops at the fortress gate and does not continue to Godangbong as a numbered route.
Getting there
Geumjeongsan sits inside Busan, and that is the point of it. Four Line 1 subway stations put you within a bus ride or a walk of a trailhead, which makes it the most transit-accessible national park in the country. From Busan Station, Beomeosa Station is about 40 minutes and Oncheonjang about 30.
Beomeosa Temple
About 40 minutes. Leave by exit 5 or 7.
Bus OK
Oncheonjang (fortress side)
About 30 minutes.
Bus OK
Mandeok Intersection
Buses 8, 110, 111, 121 and 130 stop here.
Bus OK
Hwamyeong (Buk-gu, western trails)
The western trailheads sit above the Hwamyeong district.
Bus OK
Geumgok (Wonhyojeongsa)
Trail 26 starts from the rest area by the apartment complex.
Trail 1: Gyeongdong Apartments to GodangbongPrimary
Trail 26: Wonhyojeongsa to Godangbong
Trail 21: Hwamyeong Waterworks to Sanggyebong via Paribong
Trail 2: Beomeosa to the North Gate
Course overview · reference only — a schematic of the routes, not an actual navigation route or GPS track.
The national park you can reach on Line 1
Most Korean national parks require a bus from a regional terminal and a plan. Geumjeongsan requires a metro card. Beomeosa Station is about 40 minutes from Busan Station, Oncheonjang about 30, and from either one a single city bus puts you at a trailhead.
That changes what the mountain is for. You can climb it on a half day between other things in Busan, which is not true of Seoraksan or Jirisan. It also means the trail network was built as a city amenity rather than a wilderness system, and it shows in the numbering.
Twenty-seven numbered trails, and what that actually means
Geumjeong-gu publishes a table of 27 designated trails with distance, maximum elevation difference and walking time for each. It is unusually complete data for a Korean mountain, and worth reading before you pick a route. Note what that middle column is and is not: it is the height between the low and high points of the trail, not a cumulative total of everything you climb along it.
It is also misleading if you read it as 27 hiking options. Most of the 27 are short approach paths from a specific apartment complex or school up to the nearest fortress gate. Trail 14 is 706 m and 26 minutes. These exist so that residents of a particular neighbourhood have a marked way onto the ridge, not so that visitors have 27 day hikes to choose from.
Two of the 27 finish on Godangbong, the summit. Trail 1 runs 5,070 m from Gyeongdong Apartments by way of Gyemyeongbong, with a maximum elevation difference of 663 m. Trail 26 runs 3,830 m from Wonhyojeongsa, and its 750 m is the largest figure in that column on the mountain.
The published times are fast
Trail 1 is listed at 1 hour 40 minutes for 5,070 m, Trail 26 at 1 hour 38 minutes for 3,830 m. Those are the district office’s figures and they are not wrong, but they describe a local walking the route regularly and not stopping.
If you are photographing the fortress wall, eating at the mountain village, or simply not used to the gradient, plan for meaningfully longer than the posted time and treat the numbers as a floor.
The fortress, the temple, and why the trails end where they do
Geumjeongsanseong runs along the ridge with gates at the four compass points, and the trail network is organised around it. That is why so many numbered routes terminate at the North Gate or the South Gate rather than at a peak. The wall is the destination for most people who walk up here.
Beomeosa sits on the eastern flank and is the other anchor. Trail 2 runs 1,450 m from behind the temple to the North Gate in about 40 minutes, gaining 259 m. It is the shortest marked trail on the mountain and the one most visitors arriving by subway actually walk.
What the new designation changes
Until March 2026 this was a city mountain managed by district offices, which is why the trail data comes from Geumjeong-gu and Buk-gu rather than from a park authority. Management is now moving to the Geumjeongsan National Park Office.
Practically, that means published information is in flux. Trail numbering, facility rules, and what is permitted on the mountain were all set under city administration and are being reviewed. Check the park office page for the current rules rather than treating anything as settled.
Which route to take
For the summit, Trail 26 if you want it done and Trail 1 if you want the longer approach over Gyemyeongbong. For the fortress and the temple without a summit day, Trail 2 from Beomeosa. For a ridge walk with two named peaks and no summit, Trail 21 from the Hwamyeong waterworks over Paribong to Sanggyebong.
If you have one half-day in Busan and want to say you walked in a national park, take Line 1 to Beomeosa, bus 90 to the temple, and walk Trail 2 to the North Gate. It is under two kilometres and it puts you on the wall.
One figure that does not agree
Godangbong is listed at 801.5 m by both the Geumjeong-gu and Buk-gu district offices, and at 800.8 m by the Korea Forest Service. The difference is under a metre and does not matter on the ground. The district offices, which manage the trails, give 801.5 m.
FAQ
Where is Geumjeongsan, and how high is it?
Geumjeongsan is inside Busan, spanning six city districts plus part of Yangsan in South Gyeongsang. Its summit, Godangbong, is listed at 801.5 m by the Geumjeong-gu and Buk-gu district offices.
Is Geumjeongsan a national park?
Yes, since 3 March 2026. It is Korea’s 24th national park and the first designated as an urban national park, covering 66.859 km2.
Do I need a permit or reservation?
No. Unlike Hallasan, Geumjeongsan has no reservation system, no permit and no entrance fee. Because national park designation is recent, confirm current rules before you travel.
Can I get there by subway?
Yes, and that is the mountain’s main advantage. Line 1 serves Beomeosa Station, about 40 minutes from Busan Station, and Oncheonjang Station, about 30 minutes. Bus 90 links Beomeosa Station to the temple; bus 203 links Oncheonjang to the fortress.
Which trails reach the summit?
Of the 27 numbered city trails, Trail 1 from Gyeongdong Apartments and Trail 26 from Wonhyojeongsa are the two that finish on Godangbong. Most of the others end at a fortress gate or a subsidiary peak.
What is Geumjeongsanseong?
A mountain fortress whose wall runs across the ridge, with gates at the four compass points. Several numbered trails are effectively approaches to one of those gates rather than to the summit.