‘Geommasan Birch Forest’ Selected as This Month’s Premium National Forest

Panoramic photo of the birch forest on Geommaksan Mountain. Provided by the Korea Forest Service.

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The birch forest of Geommaksan has been selected as the premium national forest for this month (August).

According to the Korea Forest Service on the 14th, Geommaksan (918m above sea level) is a mountain forming the boundary between Yeongyang-gun and Uljin-gun in Gyeongbuk Province, and the birch forest is located on the foothills of Jukpa-ri, Subi-myeon, Yeongyang-gun.

The Korea Forest Service began planting birch trees on the foothills of Jukpa-ri in 1993, and now a forest covering about 30 hectares, equivalent to about 40 soccer fields, has been established.

This area is five times larger than the well-known birch forest in Inje-gun, Gangwon-do (covering about 6 hectares in Wondae-ri, Inje-eup).

Until now, the Geommaksan birch forest was located in a remote mountain valley and had few visitors. However, recently, it has become known as a hidden gem through word of mouth, mainly among visitors to the Geommaksan Natural Recreation Forest, according to the Korea Forest Service.

This birch forest can only be reached by walking 3.2 km along a forest road from Jukpa-ri village, making the journey challenging.

However, the dense forest along the forest road provides shade, and the sound of streams flowing here and there accompanies visitors until they reach the birch forest.

Meanwhile, birch trees are known to emit a large amount of phytoncides among broadleaf trees, providing a high forest bathing effect and excellent sterilization effects, which are also helpful for atopic dermatitis treatment.

The average height of the birch trees in the Geommaksan birch forest is 9 meters, and the average diameter at breast height is 14 cm, corresponding to young trees.

Joo Ki-won, Director of National Forest Management at the Korea Forest Service, said, “If you want to forget the heat and worries in nature and take a complete rest, we recommend visiting the Geommaksan birch forest to enjoy socially distanced relaxation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.