Seokbulsa Temple, Busan

An incredibly unique temple nestled in the mountains with some great hiking trails that you can take to access. The intricate carvings are amazing to witness and it's worth it to come here if you are in Busan. The surroundings make it feel really serene with the greenery around.

Hidden between the trees on the top of a mountain outside of the center of Busan, this calm, pastoral temple different than any temple I've seen. The hike up there took quite a while (around 1 hour hike) and was a bit steep, but we chose to go on cold weather, which turned out to be a good choice hike-wise. However, the view from up there must be incredible when the visibility is better. The ancient statues facing the cliff must be at least 10 meters tall, are all craved by man, and are guarding a small shrine that is located on top of them.

Unusual stone carvings of Lord Buddha on the rock face here. They're not that old as they only date from the 1930's. I guess this is what some monk decided to do during the Great Depression. Definitely well worth making the trip to see it although I found it a little hard to orient myself to Google Maps after I got out of the Subway at Mandeok Station. I don't know if it's my age or the app or probably a combination of both. I took a cab to the trail leading to temple. The driver was kind but ain't they all? It was a nice walk back down to the station and there is a trail part of the way.

If you don’t want to exhaust yourself completely, take a taxi to the temple itself. It’s 500m away from where they can drop you off, and it’s up an extreme incline. If you want to go to the South Gate, take the cable car. I would suggest lots of water and hiking boots. From the cable car to South Gate it is a mild hike. If you walk around the perimeter of the gate it’s about 13km if I remember correctly, but it’s only approx 2km from the cable to the gate. If you walk from the cable, to the gate, then to the temple, you need good hiking shoes, lots of water, and do not go on a rainy day. This is a moderate hike (read: for an experienced hiker, if you don’t do this normally it’s painful/exhausting/and you’ll likely fall/slip at least once). You will walk out the South Gate on the somewhat paved area. You will think to yourself that this will be a fine experience and easy 2km walk. It’s not. Once you hit the village you will need to follow the trail to the right next to very outdated tennis courts. From there it’s a pretty easy to identity (don’t confuse with easy to navigate) trail. Follow this all the way to the road where you think you have finally made it, but you haven’t. You will go right and walk another 500m (approx, but my legs determined that was a lie) up a continuous cut-back road until you finally make it to the entrance of the temple. When you walk up, it doesn’t really seem all that spectacular, but the carvings in the rock face and the stairs/small prayer areas/etc are actually beautiful and interesting. It is beautiful, it it’s worth it, it is not something you will do in 1-1.5 hours and then go relax at the beach.

A hidden temple which isn't that famous. The hike is around 2.4kms. The first 1.4 km is more flat than inclined. The final km is sharply inclined. The view is amazing. There are many cafes and convenience stores on the way to the temple. The best part about this place is that it isn't crowded.