This beautiful day I enjoyed a hike to Seokbulsa Temple with a group of fun ladies. Our destination Seokbulsa Temple is a Buddhist Temple with massive boulders stretching up several meters high carved with images etched in stone. What a fun journey in my South Korea Travels.
Entrance to Seokbulsa Temple
Location Seokbulsa Temple
Seokbulsa Temple is located on Geumjeongsan Mountain in Busan South Korea which makes a wonderful Day Trip from Okpo on Geoje Island. Checked on Trip Advisor for the best way to find this hidden temple through the review of other travelers. . This temple is difficult to find but worth the effort. After a ride by subway and taxi us ladies put on our hiking shoes, grabbed our pack with lunches and water then laughed our way on our adventure.
Once you finish the very steep incline, walk under the Temple Entrance to be greeted by the welcoming prayer bell. Stop there, and see the view of the surrounding mountains, trees and the skyline of Busan.
Next walk up the stairs through 2 boulders into an area that opens up to an impressive view of etched Buddha’s that are meters high. Listen as the wind whispers, see birds soar, and feel the serenity the envelopes you. Move past the praying women and step into small caves with Buddhist statues glowing by candle light.
Amazing Carvings from the top of the temple looking down.
I was new to hiking, new shoes and not in hiking shape yet, but had one of the best days hiking to Seokbulsa Temple in Busan. I enjoyed lunch with my friends where another new hiker was sharing her lunch of a “moon pie” and chocolates. While laughing we shared our nuts, fruits and a chicken sandwiches. Seokbulsa Temple is one of my favorite peaceful temples to visit.
Directions to Seokbulsa Temple
Take a bus from Okpo into Busan, or you can drive and park at one of the subway stops. Then hopped on Subway Line 3 and exit at Mandeok Station exit 2. Hailed a taxi partially up the steep mountain side and hiked up the rest of the way to Seokbulsa Temple.
Enjoyed my time at the temple then hiked all the way down the front side of the mountain. I would suggesting taking an English Korean Translation Book to help with directions. The trails are not marked plus it’s hard to ask directions or hail a taxi if you do not speak Koean. In the end a group of 5 laughing women trying to squeeze into 1 taxi and only 1 of us who speaks some Korean made for a fun adventure.
Squeezing through the narrow opening to see the larger than life carvings on the wall in the temple area.
More Adventures
For other Day Trips off of Geoje Island visit 1Adventure Traveler. If you are looking for a weekend trips take a hop on over to Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
Remember, Life is Short, Go out and have an Adventure
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Those reliefs are marvelous! What a fun adventure with your friends!
Hi ThrifyTrails,
Seokbusa Temple in South Korea was amazing with its larger than life carvings on the mountainside. The adventures hiking was a plus. Hope you get a chance to visit 😃
What a fabulous place to visit. We didn’t know about it so thanks for sharing a great post with us. We loved the idea of the massive boulders and carvings that around the temple! Great photos 🙂 Keep up the good work! Patrick and Cécile
Thanks Patrick and Cecile, Seokbulsa Temple was an amazing hidden place I didn’t know about it until I read a quick mention of it on trip advisor. To see up close these carvings were fantastic along with the hike.
The hike to Seokbulsa Temple looks wonderful. The Buddhas etched out of the rock must have taken so long to make. I would really appreciate those whilst ascending to Seokbulsa Temple, perfect for photography.
Hi, This was truly a great hike and temple to visit. The etchings out of the boulders were amazing and hard to photograph due to the area not large enough to capture the true essence of the Buddhas. Plus this was a temple with people praying and most important I was trying to be respectfully. A place I would love to hike to again.
Wow- the temple looks beautiful! Very informative post too, thanks for sharing!
Thanks Lauren, The Seokbulsa Temple was an amazing site to see. One of the best parts was spending time with the girls, navigating 2 hours to get there and then seeing the massive etchings on the builder. Just fantastic.
Wow! what a stunning temple and place to hike, South Korea really intrigues me, especially from all your posts on the country, Im guessing the language barrier could be a small obstacle ?
Hi Garth, The Seokbulsa Temple was a great place to hike to and visit. South Korea has lots of history with a difficult language to learn. The students and younger business people learned English in school and are so helpful. On my hikes when lost, I would just say the name of the peak and the older people chuckle at my pronunciation and point the way. Had one 70+ yr man one time hike with a friend and myself 6+ hours to show us to the peak. He hiked ahead of us without any difficulty hiking. Now that was some great directions.
This looks like a great find and the carvings are fantastic! I am happy to hear that you have joined us fellow hikers 🙂 I am sure you will have many more adventures whilst hiking 🙂
Thanks Sam, I am happy to join you fellow hikers. It is so amazing here at Seokbulsa Temple with those carvings a great place for a day hike in South Korea.
Can’t beat a girls day out full of fun and laughter. This looks a hard place to find but worth it! Thanks for sharing. #feetdotravel
Hi Paul and Carole, This was a great girls day out hiking. A hidden gem at the end of a hike with amazing rock face carvings larger the life. Tried to find this temple later to show my husband but unable to locate it. A hike to remember.
This is a truly spectacular hike! I would love to see this temple!
Thanks Agness, This was truly a spectacular hike and finding this hidden gem of a temple “Seokbulsa Temple”. A hike and temple I would love to visit again.
looks like such a beautiful spot! i’d love to go.. South Korea still on the to do list.
Hi Julz, so happy to hear South Korea is on your to do list. Hope you get a chance to visit South Korea. If you need ideas on places to visit while there take a peek at my Seoul activities and many great places for a hike.
I have been considering a short trip to South Korea! If I do I most certainly will check this temple out after reading your blog. The architecture is slightly similar to Angkor Wat (the carvings!) and I love temples 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Samantha, Hope you take a short trip to South Korea one day, such an amazing place. This Seokbulsa Temple is located in the lower part of the country and what a fantastic find it was to see. There are lots of temples there put this one stood out due to the carvings on the boulders. Happy Travels 😊
It certainly seems as though you had fun on your hikes, despite the language barrier (maybe the moon pie and chocolate helped tee hee). Seokbulsa Temple sounds wonderful I will admit, especially as it’s Buddhist, very serene from the way you have explained it and a must-see! Thank you for teaching us more about South Koreo, pinned for the future. #feetdotravel
Thanks Angie,
South Korea has some amazing Temples. Happy to share about the amazing beautiful serene temples along my hikes. Also the fun experiences that happen on the hikes there because there is always a fun crazy experience.