The K-Hiking Boom: Why Visitors Are Trading Palaces for Peaks

A few years ago, a first trip to Korea meant Gyeongbokgung, Myeongdong, maybe Bukchon Hanok Village if there was time. Now a growing share of visitors are lacing up hiking shoes instead, and "K-hiking" has become a real tourism category rather than a niche interest for outdoor enthusiasts.

The shift is backed by real numbers, not just a hashtag. Over 2 million foreign visitors engaged with South Korea's national parks last year, and the momentum has only picked up since.

Part of it is timing. K-hiking is riding the same "healthy pleasure" wave that's reshaped a lot of Korean wellness and lifestyle trends recently, where doing something genuinely good for you gets treated as a form of self-care rather than a chore. Part of it is access, since Korea's trail network sits closer to major cities than most people expect, letting a serious hike fit into a single morning instead of eating up a whole day. And part of it is simply visibility: mountain photos travel well online, and a sweeping ridge view does more for a feed than another palace courtyard shot.

Three peaks are leading the surge among international hikers specifically. Mount Halla, Jeju's dormant volcano and Korea's tallest peak, drew more than 300,000 international hikers, making it the clear frontrunner. Mount Seorak followed with roughly 170,000 foreign visitors, and Mount Bukhan, sitting almost inside Seoul's city limits, brought in around 135,000, proof that a serious hiking trip doesn't require leaving the capital at all. For anyone easing into it first, Seoul's own hiking trails are close enough to try before committing to a bigger trip out to Jeju or Sokcho.

Domestic interest has grown right alongside the international surge. A 2026 hiking culture survey put the national hiking experience rate at 66.9%, meaning roughly two out of three people in Korea have hit a trail in the past year. Foreign hikers now account for close to 5% of the roughly 43.3 million total national park visitors, a small-sounding share that still adds up to millions of people who specifically chose a mountain over a museum.

The infrastructure is catching up to the demand. The Dongseo Trail, Korea's first long-distance hiking route, is set to partially open in 2026, running 527 miles (849 kilometers) from the east coast to the west. It's a genuinely new kind of trip for Korea, closer in spirit to Spain's Camino or New Zealand's Te Araroa than anything the country has offered hikers before, and it signals that this isn't a passing trend the tourism board is scrambling to catch up with.

None of this requires overhauling a trip plan. A single well-chosen trail slots naturally into an existing itinerary the same way a weekend escape out of Seoul does, and starting with an easier, well-marked trail close to the city is a lower-stakes way to see if it's worth building a bigger hiking day around Halla or Seorak later in the trip.