JIRISAN (지리산) - East Entrance (Daewonsa)

CLICK image for high resolution printable trail map (1.79 MB).

This is the primary entrance to Jirisan in the east, providing access to the main ridge. The Yupyeong Village trailhead begins 45 minutes walk from the bus stop and parking lot. The Saejae Village trailhead begins 3.6 km further up the same road. Both trails lead to Chibanmok Shelter and the rest of the ridge.

The bus drops passengers in a large, lonely parking lot next to a small convenience store. If you're planning to arrive after dark, bring a flashlight---it's absolutely pitch dark when there's no moon. There isn't much in the way of lodgings or food (or anything) in the vicinity, just a single shabby minbak 민박 and shikdang 식당 (restaurant) a minute up the road, offering small, filthy rooms; unwashed bedding; wet moldy walls; and mosquitos for a ridiculous W20,000. Don’t waste your time.

Continue up the road. After a 15 minute walk there's a fork. The left route slopes down, while the right one heads uphill. Take the left route, marked “Daewonsa.” It's a 10 minute walk to the temple. Another 15 minutes beyond that (1.8 km) will bring you to Yupyeong Village, a small collection of run-of-the-mill minbak and restaurants, ranging in price from W20,000 to 30,000 per night. There's nothing special here, but at least you can find places with clean rooms and decent food. It's also right next to the trailhead, which is convenient. Note that the last bus from Busan arrives at the parking lot around 8:30 PM. You can make it to Yupyeong Village by 9:00 if you hustle, but the restaurants will probably be closed by then, making it necessary to find a minbak owner that will be willing to cook you up some dinner on the spot.

There's also a small tourist village with minbak and restaurants at Saejae Village another 3.6 km up the road. Public buses do not run to Saejae.

GETTING THERE

Take an intercity bus from Busan to Daewonsa (3 hours). All buses to and from Busan stop briefly at Jinju Express Bus Terminal. You can also catch a bus to Jinju and then transfer to a different bus for Daewonsa.

BUSAN Seobu Sasang Terminal ► DAEWONSA Bus Stop
Fare: W11,100
06:40 09:40 10:25 13:20 17:50


It's also easy to reach Daewonsa from Jinju (90 min).

JINJU Bus Terminal ► DAEWONSA Bus Stop
Fare: W4,300
Duration: 70-80 minutes
07:30 09:40 11:30 13:30 15:30 17:30


GETTING AWAY

Intercity buses depart from the Daewonsa Bus Stop (parking lot) for Busan and Jinju.

DAEWONSA Bus Stop ► JINJU / BUSAN Seobu Sasang Terminal
Duration: 70-80 minutes (to Jinju) / 90 minutes (Jinju to Busan)
06:35 07:20* 08:00* 08:40* 09:45 10:40* 11:35* 12:40 14:40* 15:30 16:40 17:30 18:35 19:05*


Only buses marked with (*) continue on to Busan Seobu Sasang Terminal. The rest terminate in Jinju and you have to transfer to another bus to go on to Busan.

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