Hallasan Hike

Hiking Hallasan to the summit is a long day on your own feet, and only two trails go there: Seongpanak, 9.6 km and about 4 hours 30 minutes one way, and Gwaneumsa, 8.7 km and about 5 hours one way. Both need a reservation made in advance on the national park’s visit reservation system; the other trails do not, and there is no entrance fee (Hallasan National Park Office, checked November 2026). A day tour does not climb Hallasan. Its “Hallasan” stop is a walk of half an hour or so on the mountain’s slopes, at a spot chosen by the weather.

The trails

Hallasan National Park Office (Jeju Special Self-Governing Province), FAQ and trail pages in Korean, checked November 2026. The office gives walking times only for the two summit trails.

Since 3 May 2025 the lower parts of the two summit trails need no reservation: Seongpanak up to Jindallae shelter and Gwaneumsa up to Samgakbong shelter can be walked within entry hours. Beyond the shelters, only reservation holders pass the check. The Gwaneumsa summit section reopened on 24 September 2026 after works (park office notice).

The reservation itself is made on the park’s visit reservation system, visithalla.jeju.go.kr. That site did not load for us, so we print no quotas, opening days or no-show rules; read them there before you plan the day.

How long it takes, and winter

The park office’s times are one way, to the summit; the walk back down comes on top. On Seongpanak that makes a summit most of a day, and the park office controls access by weather warnings. From October to March all trails open for entry at 05:00 (park office notice of 30 September 2026). The same notice sets the times entry closes; that table was not in the text we could read, so check it on the park’s site or at the trailhead rather than relying on a figure from us.

There is no entrance fee. The park office charges for parking and its facilities instead (Hallasan National Park Office FAQ, checked November 2026).

What a day tour’s Hallasan stop is

None of the day tours on this site climbs to the summit. Their Hallasan stop is a short walk on the slopes:

• Yeha.Inc's South-West Jeju Essentials gives it 30 minutes at 1100 Highland, Saebyeol Oreum or Eorimok, picked on the day by weather and traffic; if all three are out, it goes to Camellia Hill or offers a full refund.
• LOVE KOREA's West and South Tour starts at the 1100 Altitude Wetland.
• K ONE TOUR's western and southern day gives 40 minutes to the 1100 Altitude Wetland or the 1.3 km Eoseungsaengak trail.
• LOVE KOREA's shore excursion, from the Gangjeong cruise terminal in Seogwipo, gives Hallasan National Park an hour and a half.

That is a taste of the mountain’s slopes with the rest of the island’s south and west in the same day. It is not a hike in the sense the reservation system means.

Where the stop sits on a west and south day

Hallasan rises in the middle of the island, between Jeju International Airport on the north coast and the south-coast stops of the west and south days: Jusangjeolli Cliff, Cheonjeyeon Falls and O’sulloc Tea Museum. LOVE KOREA’s west and south day ends at Iho Tewoo Beach, near the airport. The haenyeo show describes that day’s visit to the women divers.

Who should book the summit, and who the tour suits

Book the summit if you are fit, have a whole day, can secure a Seongpanak or Gwaneumsa reservation and can reach the trailhead early. Take a west and south day if you want to stand on the mountain’s slopes for half an hour and see the coast, the waterfalls and the tea fields as well. The two do not mix: a tour’s 30 minutes is no head start on a summit.