Seoul City Wall Stamp Tour

Seoul City Wall Stamp Tour

By Lenina Lee Clark

The city of Seoul, South Korea was formerly called Hanyang or Hanseong. Most of the population of Korea resides in the many districts of Seoul. It is often the first stop for many tourists when they arrive in the Republic of Korea. Seoul has an abundance of attractions in the city, but did you know it has plenty of wonderful nature trails all over the city located in parks, neighborhood districts, a National Park, and much more to offer nature lovers like myself?

One of the most popular trails I highly recommend, and just completed myself, is the Hanyangdoseong city wall stamp tour. This tour will let you experience and truly see the city, from the lower parts of the city, to a birds eye view from the tops of the mountains surrounding the metropolis. You will even see sections of the old fortress walls, originally built in 1396, during the Joseon Dynasty to protect Hanyang (Seoul) from adversary dynasties.

I recently hiked Bukhansan National Park and witnessed Seoul from the highest peak named Baegundae. After learning about the city wall trail, I decided to add this to my list of hikes that I must complete in this country while I’m here. I knew the perfect leader who would lead us on the entire trail and not get the group lost. I asked my fellow-seasoned veteran hiker, Heinz, to lead my family and myself on this adventure. Heinz has hiked all different sections and completed the entire trail every year since 2009! 

So, we hiked the perimeter of the city, counter-clockwise, from the south side easterly. For our first stop, we used the subway and stopped at Dongdaemun station, between Gwanghuimun and Heuginjimun gate, to collect our guide map and first stamp. We used the stamp to mark our map, which was located in a brown box and stamp inside. There are four stamps you must collect to receive a commemorative badge and certificate. There is also a QR code on the map if you want to download it to your phone, and it’s a very useful app to guide you along your journey. The app has the history of the wall, customized course, audio guide, and map of the stamp locations. The trail takes you along the fortress walls passing along Naksan, Baegaksan, Inwangsan, and lastly Namsan. We started heading east to north, to the west, and ended our hike on the southernmost part of the trail at Namsan. 

The trail has four main gates, which are Heunginjimun (East Gate), Donuimun (West Gate), Sungnyemun (South Gate), and Sukjeongmun (North Gate). The trail is approximately 18.6 km if you follow it without getting lost. Some of the trails passed through neighborhood side streets, which I knew I would easily miss if I did not follow Heinz. I was grateful I did not have to look at my phone and the map on this adventure. Thankfully, there are also brass trail markers embedded in the road to assist with keeping hikers on track.

Some people hike the entire trail in one day. I chose to break it up into two separate days over two seasons. We hiked the first half during fall season and experienced the changing of the leaves. We finished the second half of the perimeter wall in early spring. Fall and spring are the best seasons to hike. 

As we were ending our hike, we realized we needed to head back to the visitors office to receive our certificate before closing, which was around 5 pm. The people working at the office were happy to help us fill out the forms. We had to show them the pictures of us at the markers as proof we were there. While there, I learned that you can hike this trail each quarter, four times in a year, to earn another commemorative pin that shows you hiked it four times! Once was enough for me, and I don’t think I can easily navigate the trail without getting lost. 

My favorite sections of the trail were passing through Baegaksan (342.5m) and Inwangsan (339.9m), which gives you an extensive view of Seoul from high above. Some parts are not easy, you climb steep rocks and possibly descend narrow one-way trails. When you reach the top of a mountain, you can take a nice long break and absorb the beauty of Seoul. The trail is also open at night. So, you can see the night views while you hike along the wall. I highly recommend hiking this trail if you have a day or two to experience the amazing trail system the city has built, as well as learn along the way when and how the wall was built to protect such a wonderful beauty that is Seoul.