It's Not Just Ilchulbong — Seven Oreum Gathered in Seongsan-eup

Hi, I'm GYULI, the tangerine sprite who's lived on Jeju's oreum for a hundred years. Not long ago, I told you about climbing all the way to the top of Seongsan Ilchulbong — about not just watching the sunrise and rushing back down, but climbing to the summit instead. Today I'm not going to bring up that Ilchulbong story again. Instead, I want to talk about other oreum said to be gathered together within Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo, the same area where Ilchulbong stands — oreum that aren't nearly as widely known as Ilchulbong, but are said to sit here and there across Seongsan-eup. Daesusanbong, Sosusanbong, Siksanbong, Tong Oreum, Dokja Oreum, Nasoni Oreum, Gungdae Oreum. All seven of these are said to be known as oreum located within Seongsan-eup. I'll be careful about confidently pinning down the exact elevation of each oreum, when and how each one formed, or what legends are said to be attached to them, so today I want to focus less on those fine details and more on what it's actually like to visit these oreum in turn, as a course.

Seven Oreum Said to Be Gathered Within Seongsan-eup

Seongsan-eup is often remembered by the single big name Seongsan Ilchulbong. But zoom out on the map a little, and there are said to be oreum of various sizes scattered across Seongsan-eup besides Ilchulbong. Daesusanbong, Sosusanbong, Siksanbong, Tong Oreum, Dokja Oreum, Nasoni Oreum, Gungdae Oreum — all seven are said to be known as oreum located within Seongsan-eup. Just going by the names, some feel like paired names, like Daesusanbong and Sosusanbong, while others, like Tong Oreum or Dokja Oreum, each carry a different feel of their own — though I'll be careful about confidently describing the exact shape of each one. What does seem to be consistently confirmed across sources, though, is that all seven are named as being within the single area of Seongsan-eup, so today I want to hold onto that one fact and string them together into a course.

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More Than Any Single Name, It's the Fun of Linking Them Together

Picking out a single oreum and digging deep into its own story is great, but since these seven oreum in Seongsan-eup are said to sit gathered together, there's said to be even more enjoyment in linking them one after another. Finish looking around one, move on to the next, and a different ridge appears in front of you; move on again, and a differently shaped peak is waiting — a course where, in a sense, you check off oreum names one by one as you go. Since each oreum is said to differ in shape and in the feel of its trail, people say that every time you finish one and move to the next, it feels like meeting a completely different landscape. There's no rule saying you have to cover all seven in a single day, so picking just two or three based on your stamina and time that day is also said to be an option. It's worth thinking of this as a different kind of trip than heading somewhere for one famous name like Seongsan Ilchulbong — more like freely stringing together several oreum without a fixed order.

From what people who've visited these oreum in Seongsan-eup say, the atmosphere is often described as quite different from a place like Seongsan Ilchulbong, where crowds gather. There's no set viewing route or ticket booth, and the number of visitors is said to vary a lot from oreum to oreum, so some reviews mention a few oreum being quiet enough that you can hear only your own footsteps as you walk the ridge. Rather than a trip built around checking off one famous spot, it feels closer to a journey where you get to know the Seongsan-eup area on foot, one lesser-known oreum at a time.

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A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Finish the Course

From what's said about linking these seven oreum into a course, since the trail and difficulty are said to differ from oreum to oreum, many people are said to decide on an order beforehand. Moving between oreum sometimes requires driving and sometimes involves a connected walking stretch, so it's worth checking the layout of the oreum on a map before planning your course. Since the trails go up and down each oreum, comfortable walking shoes are a basic must, and since some oreum are said to have little shade, bringing water or a hat depending on the season is also worth considering.

I'll be careful about confidently pinning down the exact total distance or how long the whole course takes to finish. Since the oreum are spread apart from each other and everyone walks and lingers at a different pace, sources are said to give different estimates for how long it takes. So rather than an exact number, it might be more meaningful to focus on simply knowing that this many oreum are gathered within one area, Seongsan-eup, and visiting them one at a time. Rather than trying to cover all seven from the very first visit, it's said to be more than enough to get to know the names one by one and fill in the rest on a later trip.