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I enthusiastically recommend Roger. He shared his encyclopedic knowledge of the park, and regaled us with fun accounts of his adventurous life in his native New Zealand, Africa, and now Korea. He also helped and encouraged us through what was probably a somewhat more ambitious hike than I should have attempted at age 71. (I am an experienced hiker, but not getting any younger. ) But even though I probably won’t try anything quite so ambitious in the future, I will never regret what was probably the most spectacular hike in a life filled with many wonderful hikes. And yes, we made it all the way to the top, and back down again. Roger suggested a loop hike that got us away from the crowds, and was in many ways the best part of the hike. Yay Roger.

Individuals, couples, families—I’ve been guiding international hikers across Korea for 15 years. I know this terrain inside out: how to move, where to stay, what to eat, how life really works beyond the cities. This isn’t a side job. It’s my life’s work. My connection to Korea goes deeper than guiding. I’ve published six books on its mountains, and before COVID-19, my work took me into North Korea to photograph the Baekdu-daegan. Those images became exhibitions across Korea and abroad—from Pyongyang to Kyoto to New Zealand—capturing the peninsula as one landscape, one story. I’ve also worked with MBC Korea on two documentaries about those journeys, and I’m well known within Korea’s hiking community. My trips are multi-day, fully guided adventures: traveling by SUV, hiking new peaks each day, staying in different towns, eating well, and discovering a side of Korea most visitors never see. You’ll get experienced, professional guidance—and something far more personal than a standard tour. Check the South Korea Hikes tab in the menu bar. See my career details here.

Mountain Hiking in Korea: Founded in 2009, HIKE KOREA designs guided hikes for international visitors, led by New Zealander Roger Shepherd. Trips span all of South Korea, with past expeditions reaching even the remote Paektu Plateau in North Korea. Korea is a mountainous land where peaks shape culture, belief, and daily life—echoing through music, art, and the ancient idea of san-shin (mountain spirits) and pungsu-jiri (geomantic energy). An old web of village trails has evolved into a vast modern network crossing ridges, forests, temples, coasts, and cities. With dozens of parks and countless routes, Korea feels like a vast labyrinth—best discovered on foot. For your next trip to Asia, consider Korea.

					  Jirisan South Korea - Excellent trip and tour with Roger! Tailored everything to our interests. One of the highlights of my many trips to South Korea				
TeamBrad
May 15, 2023 

					  Excellent guide, excellent trip - We enjoyed every aspect of our trip with Roger, spending a week hiking the Lands End trail from Wolchul-san National Park down to the sea, then meeting again for 3... read more days in Seoul and points north. I was interested in visiting places in Paju near the DMZ where I'd been as a soldier, and Roger put together an excellent itinerary. A great guide and much fun to be with.				
bobperronnh
May 18, 2023 

					  I logged in to write a review about our most recent experience and realized our review from 2015 was not linked to Roger so please enjoy the following write up... read more while I work on the recent one.

DownVegasTown

Alamo Heights, Texas

149115

Hiking in Korea

Review of Hwawangsan Mountain

Reviewed June 7, 2015

A bit of background, My wife is Korean and her family history ties back to a story in ancient times at the facilities on top of the mountain. She researched both english and korean sites to find the place and how to get there. Fortunately she found an excellent guide service. We were in route from Seoul to Gyeongju and stopped in Daegu to make this day trip. We arrived early in Daegu, made the hike up the mountain and took the last train onto Gyeongju.

Roger with HikeKorea.com met us at the train station and drove us to Changnyeong and then onto Hwawangsan Mountain for the hike to the top. Roger leads hikes all over South Korea but this was his first time to Hwawangsan Mt so he arrived the day before and scouted it out.

So, we started the hike with a stop at a temple on the way up. Cherry blossoms were ending their bloom so we saw many on the trees and many on the ground. We chose to hike up the shortest route which to the novice sounded like the best but in reality ended up being the steepest, strenous, most difficult....ok the adjectives get a bet racy from here, so just say this old man was in over his head. The good thing is Roger was excellent watching my wife and i for signs of fatigue, stress and fear. Yes I said it. Old guy got a little nervous but Roger was always there and never let us feel uncomfortable.

We made it to the top, piece of cake for my wife but I struggled due to age, injured toe and tight pants. Roger had a set of hiking poles which I refused the first 30 minutes but finally relented. My god they were awesome. Cut the huff and puff in half, pulse dropped a few notches and I thought I might get off the mountain without a helicopter.

Made it to the top and walked along the ridge line about a km to the ancient spot we had to see. i must admit it was interesting to me seeing this location at 757 meters with nothing around. Had to be the get away spot several centuries ago.

We chose the other route on the way down which turned out to be less steep and relaxing. After the mountain we saw historic sights in Changnyeoung and then went to the Upo Wetlands which was an unexpected surprise from Roger.

I would definitely repeat this excursion, stopping at Daegu, having Roger with Hikekorea.com take us on the hike and bring us back to Daegu train station.

It is an excellent day trip excursion in route to gyeongju although I fear the people on the train were probably thought we could use a shower.

Date of experience: May 2015

Ask DownVegasTown about Hwawangsan Mountain				
DownVegasTown
August 3, 2023