Weeks ago, Mt. Mayon was acting up with minor eruptions, spewing lava and ashes. Predictably, photos of the phenomenon kept popping up mostly on social media feeds. I distinctly remember seeing one particular night shot, and thought, “That. Is. Gorgeous.” It felt wrong at the time, but the truth in those words somehow also made it feel right. Because isn’t that something amazing? That a cataclysmic tragedy could still result into something so strikingly beautiful? Even today, many of the places we visit for appreciation and sightseeing were results of such events in the past. Just like Jeju’s Sunrise Peak, or Seongsan Ilchulbong.
Come to think of it, the island of Jeju itself is a result of a series of cataclysmic events, specifically volcanic eruptions. Records have it that Jeju was formed around 2 million years ago by a series of volcanic activity, continuing throughout the ages to form the Jeju of today, with its terrain, coasts, and even the small off-coast islands (yes, Udo included).
In simpler terms, thanks to nature being hard at work, South Korea has been blessed with beautiful Jeju.
Anyone visiting Jeju for the first time and doing their research will definitely come across the “Sunrise Peak” as one of the recommended places to visit. Being featured in several television programs and dramas (“Warm and Cozy” featured a lot of Jeju’s nicest places; too bad the drama is forgettable.) also upped its tourism market value.
Since it was in the Seongsan area, which is the jump-off point to Udo, we thought it made sense to make it a stop after our day-in-Udo adventure.
Before Sunset…
After arriving back at the Seongsan Port from Udo, we decided to wing it and walk towards Seongsan Ilchulbong. After all, it looked visible, so we thought we won’t get lost, as long as we keep it in sight.
….
Well, it turned out to be a biii~iiiit of a problematic decision, because we ended up taking the long way around… and found ourselves approaching it from another side. We realized this when we found out that we got ourselves somewhere in the Seongsan-Ojo Geo Trail, which happened to be one of the many walking trails in the island.
But check out the view over there! We finally got an unobstructed view of the volcanic cone, and the blue ocean and the blue sky…
So we didn’t really care (much) about whether we were taking the right way or not. We followed our gut, walking towards where we felt led to the entrance to the Peak and, barely five minutes later, SUCCESS!!!
Seongsan Ilchulbong is within what I can only call a wide park, with the Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak as the main attraction. Admission to the park is from 7 in the morning (perfect for early morning joggers and hikers) until 7pm (or 6pm during the winter season).
We got to the gates just shortly before 4pm, so it was not a problem for us.
Admission fee is 2,000 KRW for adults and 1,000 KRW for teenagers and children. Large groups have discounts, which is something I saw in most places we visited.
Introducing Seongsan Ilchulbong
Let’s have some background talk a bit, shall we?
If we’re going to speak in layman’s terms, Seongsan Ilchulbong is a mini-volcano. But if we are going to be real technical about it, it is a “tuff cone”, one of the several types of volcanic cones. What sets it apart from the other types of volcanic cones is the fact that it is produced by hydrovolcanic explosions. In short, magma spewed from the earth’s core through a body of water, and into the surface.
And that’s how Seongsan Ilchulbong was formed, when magma came forth from under the ocean. Which is why this tuff cone is oft said to have “risen from under the sea” many thousands of years ago. This is apparently not a very common phenomenon, which makes this place even more special to the people of Jeju and South Korea as a whole.
I am taking the liberty of snagging this aerial shot of Seongsan Ilchulbong from Visit Jeju.
The cone is tall and proud at 180 meters above sea level. It earned the moniker “Sunrise Peak” because it is ideal to visit to view the sunrise as well as the sunset. But if you’re unable to visit during those times of the day, that’s not something to be too worried about, because the place is still just as gorgeous even in the middle of the day, IMO.
It was in 2010 when the tuff cone and its immediate surrounding area was declared a Global Geopark. The government’s development efforts are impressive because it was clear that they respected the natural terrain of the place, creating pathways and trails that somehow still remained faithful to the original state of the place.
Yep, this was one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, and UNESCO officially named it as a World Heritage site back in 2007. They have markers and signs to announce these titles proudly to the world. And why not? This is definitely something to brag about.
The star of this Geopark – the reason people flock to this place – is the tuff cone itself, although I have to say that the rest of the geopark is worth checking out, even if you are not up to climbing up the stairs to view the crater.
If This Were My Backyard…
…then I’d probably never leave home. Seriously. With such great views, fresh breeze from the ocean (and none of that fishy salty smell, at least none that I sensed when we were there), this is a great place to just be quiet with your thoughts.
Or, in the case of several young people who came here in groups, it’s a place for them to hang out together for a laugh or two.
I remember being really excited to be up there, so we decided to go directly to the summit then come back down later, maybe explore the other parts of the Geopark if we still have time.
As I have come to know about South Korea’s hiking trails, the Geopark was designed to welcome people of all ages and health conditions, it seems. The pathways were made well, and the only reason to sustain an injury or have an accident is mostly one’s stupidity and carelessness, haha!
Wooden stairs were also installed especially in the steep parts, so visitors won’t have to worry about having to climb up steep paths. It also protects the trail, methinks, because people won’t have to tread on rocks and stones, and even damage the flora along the trail.
And there are also platforms in some parts where visitors can rest and maybe catch their breath.
I doubt that’d work too much, because if they check out the view, I think it’d take their breath away too.
….Too cheesy? *sniggers*
Seongsan Ilchulbong also has unique rocks: large, vertical and pointed ones that jut and surround the climbing path to the crater. These rocks were formed by an “unequal erosion process of unset layers of volcanic ash when it rains”.
Basically, these used to be piles of volcanic ash. As raindrops fell over the pile, the outer layers eroded, and what remained upright were these rocks. The most popular one is the Deung Gyeung Dol.
Many times during the climb, one cannot help but stop and look back out to check out the view. I dunno, but the absence of sounds of traffic that you’d typically hear in big metropolitan cities added to the serene beauty of the place.
As you get closer to the summit, the trail becomes steeper, and if you’re not careful, you might get easily winded. I know I did, but I was too excited to just reach the top to care, haha!
But one great thing about taking photos: pausing to snap some shots is also an excuse to catch your breath without, you know, really giving away the fact that you are out of breath, haha!
Finally, the Sunrise Peak…
Finally~!!!
It was 4:20 when we finally arrived at the top! It was a continuous climb for us, with a couple of 2- or 3-minute rests. But we had quite a relaxed pace as we were also taking photos. It roughly took 30 minutes to climb up the seemingly endless flight of wooden and stone stairs.
Well, the summit is actually an area on the rim of the tuff cone. Wooden platforms and stairs were artfully built atop one side of the crater’s rim, so you can look down one side to check out the view of Seongsan Port (where you entered the Geopark) and on the other side, you can see the crater of the Seongsan Ilchulbong tuff cone itself.
Yep, this is the crater. During spring, when canola flowers are in bloom, it is surrounded by the bright yellow flowers. Supposedly there are 99 rocks that surround the crater, but I did not think of finding them. Oops.
But you can see here that the crater is all lush and green, which means it has not erupted in recent years. I don’t think it has, ever. But I’m not too sure if it never will, either. *shrug*
The view deck is also a rest area, by the way. It is spacious enough to accommodate probably hundreds of tourists at a time. Again, it has been designed to allow visitors to sit back and watch the sun rise, which is apparently a spectacular sight to see from Seongsan Ilchulbong’s peak.
Well, this place is called “Sunrise Peak”, after all.
Even the Descent is Quite Something…
We took very leisurely steps as we made our descent. There is a different trail for those leaving the summit, so as to manage the crowd, maybe.
OK, maybe if you have vertigo, or a problem with high places, you might want to be careful and pace yourself when going down the stairs, because it can get steep at some parts. Still, the workmanship of the stairs is quite impressive, and I don’t doubt for a moment that it can hold hundreds of people walking over it on a daily basis.
And you’d have the best view while going down, too. It was close to sundown when we were also making our descent from the summit, so the golden hour was already upon the water. It’s dazzling, to say the least.
Aside From the Peak, there’s more!
Once you reach back down, you can take some of the walking trails that fork to several parts of the GeoPark if you are up for more cardio. We followed the one that led to the water, just to catch a glimpse of the area where the Jeju women divers have their performances for the crowd.
See that cove down there? That is where visitors can watch women divers do their thing. You know, dive then catch sea creatures. I’m not exactly sure how their performance goes. I think some visitors can even get their chance to try joining the divers, for a fee, I’m not too sure.
But performances for the day were already over by the time we got there, so we were unable to catch one. Oh well.
There, in the distance, is the Udobong Peak. Which is why I mentioned in my earlier post about taking a glimpse of Udobong Peak (check it out here) that you can spot Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak if you stand there.
These two peaks looked like two friends gazing out at each other with the sea between them.
It was 5:15 when we took that step that took us past the gate of Seongsan Ilchulbong. If only we were staying a bit closer, then we’d have stayed probably half an hour more. But we were thinking of the almost hour-long travel back to Seogwipo, on top of the time it’d likely take us to wait for the bus.
So with heavy steps, but with light hearts, we said thank you to the Sunrise Peak. I think the Koreans call it ‘healing’? Yeah, I kinda got that sense while we were walking around the Park. Like there was a bit of healing to be had for anyone that comes here.
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