Hallasan Forests and Wetlands in Autumn — 1100 Highland Wetland, Halla Eco Forest, Saryeoni and Jeolmul

If you want to explore the forests and wetlands of Hallasan and its mid-mountain area in autumn, take a look at 1100 Highland Wetland, a highland wetland beside the 1100 Road; Halla Eco Forest, which has a maple forest; and Saryeoni Forest Trail and Jeolmul Natural Recreation Forest, both thick with Japanese cedar. A Ramsar wetland, a restored forest and cedar forests each offer a different landscape, so you can choose based on what you would like to see.

1100 Highland Wetland — A highland wetland beside the 1100 Road

1100 Highland Wetland is a mountain wetland formed on the highlands of Hallasan. At least 16 wetlands are scattered across the area; a wetland protected area was designated along them in 2009, and in the same year the site was also registered as a Ramsar wetland. Hallasan National Park's introduction also names 1100 Highland Wetland among Hallasan's highland wetlands.

Water that collects in the low parts of the wetland serves as a drinking source for wild animals. A wooden nature trail runs through the wetland so you can see it as you walk, and signs along the trail explain the wetland's animals and vegetation.

The wetland lies across from the Hill 1100 rest area. The 1100 Road is a mountain road that connects Jeju City and Seogwipo with the summit of Hallasan on its east side, and the Jeju Tourism Organization's VisitJeju notes that while driving it, you can view from Hill 1100 how Hallasan changes with altitude and season. If you take the 1100 Road in autumn, look out for Hallasan's autumn scenery along with the wetland.

Halla Eco Forest — A restored forest with a maple forest

Halla Eco Forest was created by restoring a damaged, long-neglected grassland to its original forest. You can see plants ranging from warm-temperate species to Hallasan's alpine plants, and the grounds are made up of several forests and gardens, including a Korean fir forest, a cherry tree forest, a maple forest and an aquatic plant garden.

In autumn, the place to look for is the maple forest. Halla Eco Forest describes it as a forest of beautiful autumn leaves that color the season in many hues, where 29 plant species, including maples, Neoshirakia japonica, Sorbus alnifolia and Lindera erythrocarpa, let you see leaves turning all kinds of colors. The guide also explains that when temperatures drop in autumn, leaves stop producing chlorophyll, and pigments such as carotenoids, xanthophylls and anthocyanins color them in various shades.

The Sutmoreu Forest Trail inside the forest takes its name from an old place name meaning "the ridge where charcoal was made." The Sutmoreu Hinoki Forest Trail, which leads to Jeolmul Natural Recreation Forest, branches off from this trail. It suits travelers who like to look closely at how a forest is made up, checking the names of the trees one by one.

Saryeoni Forest Trail — A forest trail with sunlight between the cedars

Saryeoni Forest Trail runs from Bijarim-ro, south of Jeolmul Oreum in Bonggae-dong, Jeju City, to the Bulgeun Oreum entrance in Gasi-ri, Pyoseon-myeon, Seogwipo. It is named after Saryeoni Oreum in the Hannam Experimental Forest of the Warm-Temperate and Subtropical Forest Research Center, and "Saryeoni" means a sacred, divine place.

Along the trail, dense Japanese cedar grows alongside various trees such as Japanese oak, hornbeam, Japanese snowbell and hinoki cypress, and the forest is home to various wild animals. The Saryeoni Forest Trail area is part of the Jeju Island Biosphere Reserve designated by UNESCO in 2002. You can see tall cedars reaching straight toward the sky and casting deep shade, with sunlight shining between the trees, and near the Bulgeun Oreum entrance you can look around both the red volcanic scoria path and the dense cedar forest.

The trail's entrances are divided between the Bijarim-ro side and the Bulgeun Oreum entrance on Namjo-ro. Before you set out, check the VisitJeju guide to decide which entrance to use and where to turn back.

Jeolmul Natural Recreation Forest — A cedar forest in the mid-mountain area of Bonggae-dong

Jeolmul Natural Recreation Forest is a recreation forest in the mid-mountain area of Bonggae-dong, filled with tall, straight Japanese cedars. According to the forest's guide, it opened on July 23, 1997, and of its 300ha in total, 200ha is planted forest and 100ha is natural forest. Its main trees, cedars 30 to 45 years old, are said to have been planted after scrub was cleared starting in the mid-60s.

Besides cedar, trees such as pine and mountain mulberry grow here, and birds such as the white-backed woodpecker, crows and the Japanese bush warbler live in the forest. Around dawn and dusk, roe deer can reportedly be seen grazing. Another feature of this forest is the dreamy atmosphere that appears when fog rolls in.

Inside the recreation forest are facilities including walking paths, a spring, a pond, a lawn plaza and a woodcraft workshop. The spring is said to have held so much water that residents drank from it even when every village well dried up in a drought during the Joseon Dynasty. Nearby Jeolmul Oreum is an unusually shaped oreum with a round crater remaining on its side, and it stands 697m above sea level.

The forest's guide lists nearby attractions including an eco forest and the Saryeoni Forest Trail, so keep this in mind when planning a schedule together with the forests above.

Before You Go

Here are the addresses for each place.

• 1100 Highland Wetland: 제주특별자치도 서귀포시 1100로 1555
• Halla Eco Forest: 제주특별자치도 제주시 516로 2596
• Saryeoni Forest Trail: 제주특별자치도 제주시 조천읍 교래리 산 137-1
• Jeolmul Natural Recreation Forest: 제주특별자치도 제주시 명림로 584

Saryeoni Forest Trail has separate entrances on the Bijarim-ro side and the Namjo-ro side, so check which entrance you will use before setting your navigation destination. Information that can change, such as opening hours and conditions of use, should be checked once more before your visit with the Jeju Tourism Organization (VisitJeju), Halla Eco Forest and Jeolmul Natural Recreation Forest.

If you want to take in autumn on the slopes of Hallasan at your own pace, from wetland to forest, get a car that suits your journey ready in advance with Friends Rent-a-Car.