Sancheong-gun, Jirisan Ecological Festival ... Baekdudaegan Restoration Project Promotion

Selection of Scenic Rest Area Sites by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Activation of Ungseokbong County Park

Bammeori-jae, selected as a scenic rest area.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Sancheong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, is promoting various projects to develop Bammeorijae on Ungseokbong, a ridge of Jirisan Cheonwangbong, into an ecological and tourism resource.

According to the county on the 23rd, centered around Bammeorijae, projects such as ▲Baekdudaegan Ecological Corridor Restoration Project ▲Scenic Rest Area Creation Project ▲Baekdudaegan V-Healing Startup Road are underway.

Among these, the Baekdudaegan Ecological Corridor Restoration Project was approved by the Korea Forest Service last year, and the Scenic Rest Area Creation Project was selected as a project site by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport earlier this year, marking the start of full-scale project implementation.

The Baekdudaegan V-Healing Startup Road project, which was included as a core project in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Baekdudaegan Development Comprehensive Plan last year, has been selected by Gyeongnam Province as a regional innovation new business this year and will receive continuous consulting to secure government funding.

Bammeorijae is a mountain pass with Jirisan Cheonwangbong visible far to the right and Ungseokbong County Park located nearby on the left.

Currently, construction of the Jirisan Tunnel (Bammeorijae Tunnel) on National Road No. 59 between Samjang and Sancheong is in full progress.

The county is exploring various ways to transform the Bammeorijae road, which will see a significant decrease in traffic once the tunnel opens, into a local tourist attraction.

First, the Baekdudaegan Ecological Corridor Restoration Project aims to connect the ridgelines (mountain ridges that serve as ecological corridors) of Jirisan National Park, Korea’s first national park, and Ungseokbong County Park.

This project is part of the Korea Forest Service’s “2022 Forest Restoration” initiative. It was established to restore the Baekdudaegan forest ecological corridor, which was damaged during the Japanese occupation or severed during industrialization and modernization processes.

The county plans to invest 5.8 billion KRW in national and local funds over three years from 2022 to 2024 to create an ecological tunnel near the summit of Bammeorijae in Honggye-ri, Samjang-myeon.

The Bammeorijae ecological tunnel will reconnect Jirisan and Ungseokbong, preventing habitat fragmentation or damage to wildlife and plant habitats and facilitating their movement.

The Bammeorijae Scenic Rest Area Creation Project was selected last year as a scenic rest area project site by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

It will utilize the undeveloped parking lot area at the summit of Bammeorijae to create a rest area and shelter. The shelter is expected to provide a resting space not only for drivers but also for hikers using the trails in Ungseokbong County Park.

The project aims to provide safe and comfortable facilities for road users, investing approximately 600 million KRW in a 1,500㎡ site to build a photo observatory, walking trails, restrooms, decks, and more.

The Baekdudaegan V-Healing Startup Project is a tourism resource development initiative for Jirisan and Bammeorijae jointly promoted by Sancheong-gun and Gyeongnam Province, aiming for selection in government public contests.

The plan is to create an ecological tourism environment through three phases: Phase 1, establishing a Sky Road base by installing a helicopter landing pad; Phase 2, building a High Road base through a bicycle healing hub; and Phase 3, developing a Maple Road base by refurbishing Bammeorijae.

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