Mt Maisan

One thing you’ll be carrying around your South Korean trip is your camera. Make sure the battery is well charged and you download the loads of photos you’ll be taking daily. I’ve done just that because Maisan Provincial Park is picture perfect.

Located east of Jeonju City in South Korea’s Chollabuk-do province, it’s easy to reach Maisan by bus on a day-trip, via the small town of Jinan. The park is within easy walking distance of Jinan’s bus terminal, but most opt for taking a taxi.

The pine-clad mountains seem to get better and the twin peaks that dominate this park are a curiosity. Mt Maisan is called Horse Ear Mountain because the peaks are split creating the appearance, from a distance, of two horse ears.
Not only is the appearance of the mountains interesting; so is its geology, unlike the igneous rock strata that dominate much of the Korean Peninsula, these two peaks are formed of conglomerate rock which looks like gray pebbles hardened in cement, and helps give the area a lost world feeling.

This region has been a revered and much visited location for high born and commoners through Korea’s many Royal Dynasties including the Silla and Joseon, over the millennia. Further down the mountain is the highly popular temple of Tapsa, Maisan’s real gem, which sits in a surreal clasp of stacked rock.
These near-hundred-strong towers were the work of one monk, Yi Kap-myong (1860–1957), who apparently used no adhesive in their construction. These mortar-less pagodas were erected in the early 1900s as his symbolic personal prayers for peace.

These diverse stone towers some as tall as 10 meters are an intriguing sight and no matter how bad the weather, even during storms, they somehow do not sway or fall, adding to the mysterious atmosphere of the area.

Mount Maisan is a great place to spend some time walking the trails up and over the Horse ear peaks. There are plenty of restaurants to get a meal and, if you want to watch the sunrise, there’s even accommodation.

For more information, visit english.visitkorea.or.kr