Golden Buddha Hike in Bukhansan – Directions and Photos
The Golden Temple of Bukhansan Mountain is an awesome hike that is great for a photo op, as well as an escape from the hustle and bustle of Seoul. It is a great and easy exercise that offers some beautiful views of the city.
Getting to the Golden Buddha in Bukhansan can be a bit challenging, but doesn’t need to be. We’ve put together a list of photos to use as landmarks to get yourselves there which can be seen below. The hike will take you about an 45 minutes to get to the Golden Buddha, 20 more to get to the summit, and 40 to get back down.
How to Get to the Golden Buddha
To get there go to Gupabal station go out exit 2 and turn around. The two best buses to take are the #704 and #34 buses. They both get off at the same stop.
You want to get off the bus at National Park (all the hikers will get off here.) Head left from the stop and make your first right turn. It will say Bukhansan National Park.
Follow that for about for about 10 minutes (hard to say as we stopped for some snacks and makgeolli on the way)
You’ll eventually come to a signpost that has a map of the hikes. Go left, after about 5-7 minutes you’ll come to this fortress gate. We got here at 3:15.
Pass through the first Fortress Gate.
You’ll see this on the right hand side.
You’ll see this on the right hand side.
You’ll see this sign post just ahead and you want to be heading toward Daenammun (Castle Gate) for now.
Next thing you’ll notice is this Buddha and the staircase. Head up the stairs and you’re next turn awaits.
[image type=”thumbnail” float=”none” link=”true” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” src=”8141″ alt=”Road to the Golden Buddha at Bukhansan”]
This signpost is a bit tricky. If you look directly to your right, you’ll see two buildings in the photo below and this sign. The route is through the path of them. Easy to miss!
Just walk down the path and you will see a staircase continuing the hike. If you’re lucky like us you’ll see Mr. Meow-Pots to lead the path.
From now until the Golden Buddha, this is the signpost (Guknyeongsa) that you are looking for. It took us approximately 30 minutes to get here.
You’ll pass this bridge shortly. You’re about 10-15 minutes away from the Golden Buddha!
Some signposts you may see on your way up there. Keep in mind, the path splits a couple times, don’t worry they both lead to the same spot. If it helps, we stayed to the right!
Just keep an eye out for these signs. You’re almost there!
Whoop there it is! Congratulations, you made it. It took us about 45 minutes in all to get here. We stayed here and took photos for about 30 minutes, pet the dogs, and drank some Magkeolli.
Hungry for more hiking? We’ll let us take you to the top! Otherwise, go back down the same way you came up!
To go to the top, you need to look for these signs. They are located to the right of the Buddha statue. To the left of the temple. The sign says Dungsaro.
There’s a new signpost to look out for. Just make sure you’re following the arrow pointing up.
We went to the sign pointing towards the Daennamun gate. (Although we didn’t go all the way to it.)
There’s a couple steep paths on the way up to the top. But you’ll be able to manage.
Keep an eye out for these signs. Tambangro is the new route! There is only about 10 or so minutes left. The routes get a bit steep so we didn’t take any photos. But you’re almost to the summit! See some pictures below.
Overall the hike is one of our favorite hikes to do in Seoul!