Boseong-gun Completes Creation of Obongsan Ecological Trail Embracing History and Culture

[Boseong=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Cheon-seok] Jeollanam-do Boseong-gun (Governor Kim Cheol-woo) announced on the 24th that the ‘Obongsan Ecological Trail Construction Project’ has been completed.

Starting in 2018, a total project cost of 1.7 billion KRW was invested to create forest ecological trails, tree houses, deck rest areas, and more, linking Obongsan’s excellent natural ecological scenery with historical and cultural resources to provide visitors with attractions and develop a new tourist destination.

The Obongsan Ecological Trail Construction Project spans a total length of 5.8 km and consists of five ecological and cultural themed trails: ▲Hwangso Georeum-gil ▲Kalbawi-gil ▲Waterfront Walkway ▲Yongchugol-gil ▲Gudeul Stone Wall Trail.

Hwangso Georeum-gil is a path where visitors can feel the hardships of Boseong residents who, during the active period of the Boseong Obongsan Gudeuljang (underfloor heating stone slab) business, would wake up at dawn by the moon and pull ox carts loaded with nearly 2-meter-long Gudeul slabs up and down steep mountain paths from sunrise to sunset. You can walk the mountain path shaped like the Korean character “지 (之)” that they used to carry the slabs on ox carts.

Kalbawi-gil highlights Kalbawi, the trademark rock of Obongsan.

During summer, visitors can feel cool breezes, and in winter, warm winds through remodeled wind holes. Sculptures such as stone towers made with Gudeul slabs and photo zones for commemorative photos have been installed, along with tree houses, allowing visitors to enjoy Kalbawi for longer periods during their hike.

The Waterfront Walkway features a deck road along the vast 232,000㎡ Haepyeong Lake and a barefoot trail on the yellow clay path. Additionally, Yongchugol-gil follows the Yongchu Waterfall, and the Gudeul Stone Wall Trail, built with the pride of Obongsan’s Gudeul slabs, has also been prepared.

The Obongsan Gudeuljang quarry site is the world’s largest existing Gudeul slab quarry and the center of Korea’s Ondol culture.

It is also a living modern history site where people endured hard labor in exchange for their livelihoods during the difficult times of the Japanese colonial period.

Kim Cheol-woo, Governor of Boseong-gun, said, “We will continuously improve the ecological trail that connects our history and beautiful ecological scenery to create a premium trail where residents can comfortably enjoy their leisure time.”

Plans are underway to link the Millennium Gudeuljang Healing Park project (5.7 billion KRW) and the Haepyeong-ri Rural Road No. 205 alignment improvement project (300 million KRW) in the Obongsan area to develop it into a Gudeuljang theme park.

Boseong=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Cheon-seok kun5783@asiae.co.kr

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