When did the Wish Fulfilment Trail open?

On 1 September 2026, and no closing date has been announced, so it should be running through the autumn colour season and beyond.

Nothing. The walk is free and so is entry to the park — Korea's national parks charge no admission. The only optional cost is a candle offering at Naejangsa temple at the end.

No. You fill in a form at the Naejangsan visitor centre and start walking. There is no online reservation and no advance application.

Where does the route go?

From the visitor centre along the 108 Maple Road, past a maple designated a natural monument, and finishing at Naejangsa temple, with one small task at each of the four points.

When do the maples peak at Naejangsan?

Around the first week of November in both 2024 and 2025. The 2026 forecast had not been published at the time of writing; the park announces it during October and it moves with the weather.

Programme·Korea National Park ServiceOn nowFree

Naejangsan's new wishing trail, and when the maples actually turn

Kang Shin-wookPublished 22 September 2026Updated 21 September 20269 sources checkedEditorial policy 이 글을 한국어로 읽기

Naejangsan National Park

The essentials

Dates: From 1 September 2026; no end date announced (On now)
Where: Naejangsan National Park, Jeongeup, Jeonbuk — visitor centre to the 108 Maple Road, the natural-monument maple, and Naejangsa temple
Admission: Free. Only the candle offering at Naejangsa costs anything, and it is optional
Booking: None. Fill in a form at the Naejangsan visitor centre and go
Who it is for: Anyone
Language: The form at the visitor centre and the trail signage are in Korean. The walk itself is short and waymarked, and the four tasks along it are simple enough to follow by watching; staff at the visitor centre can point you at the start.
The route: Four points with one task at each — hanging a wish leaf, drawing a heart map, a photo point, and a candle offering
Run by: Naejangsan National Park office
Hours and numbers: Not published; ask at the visitor centre

Written up from Korea National Park Service's own announcement of 9 September 2026. Details change — check the official page before you travel.

Naejangsan National Park has opened a themed walk called the Wish Fulfilment Trail, running from the visitor centre through the 108 Maple Road and past a natural-monument maple to Naejangsa temple. It is free with no booking — you fill in a form at the visitor centre and start. Naejangsan is the country's best-known maple destination, and in both 2024 and 2025 the colour peaked around the first week of November.

In short

The Wish Fulfilment Trail has run since 1 September 2026 and no closing date has been announced.
It is free and needs no booking — you fill in a form at the Naejangsan visitor centre and set off.
The route runs visitor centre, 108 Maple Road, the natural-monument maple, then Naejangsa temple, with one small task at each point.
Only the candle offering at the temple costs anything, and it is optional. Colour peaked around the first week of November in both 2024 and 2025.

The 108 Maple Tunnel seen from inside the Iljumun gate at Naejangsa, red maples arching over the path from both sides. — The 108 Maple Tunnel from inside Naejangsa's Iljumun gate (photographed 5 November 2021). Photo: Korea National Park Service

Naejangsan is where Korea goes to look at maples. The park sits in a horseshoe of ridges around a valley in Jeongeup, and the approach road to Naejangsa temple runs through a tunnel of them that is photographed more than almost any other autumn scene in the country. The park has now laid a short themed walk along that approach, free and without booking, which is a sensible piece of design: it gives the enormous autumn crowd something to do other than queue.

What the walk involves

Four points, four small tasks. You hang a wish written on a maple leaf, draw a map of what is on your mind, take a photograph at a marked point, and finish at Naejangsa, where you can make a candle offering if you want to. The whole thing is built around the existing path rather than a new one, so it adds intent to a walk most visitors were making anyway.

An aerial view of the Naejangsan National Park visitor centre, surrounded by forest. — The Naejangsan visitor centre, both the start of the wishing trail and the place you sign up for it. Photo: Korea National Park Service (2026.09.07. press release) · Original

An adult and a child hanging up maple-leaf-shaped paper with a wish written on it inside the Naejangsan visitor centre. — A family hanging a wish leaf at the visitor centre (6 September 2026). Photo: Korea National Park Service · Original

Another family hanging wish leaves at the Naejangsan visitor centre. — Another family hanging wish leaves the same day (6 September 2026). Photo: Korea National Park Service · Original

The 108 Maple Road and the protected tree

The number 108 is Buddhist — the count of earthly desires, and the number of prayer beads on a rosary — and the road takes its name from the temple at the end of it. Along the way stands a maple designated a natural monument, which is to say a tree protected in its own right rather than as part of a landscape. Both are on the route, and both are free to walk past at any time of year.

Volunteers spading compost around the base of a maple beside the trail. — Volunteers feeding the wild maples along the trail (14 April 2023). Photo: Korea National Park Service

Volunteers and staff in a group photograph in front of a banner for the Naejangsan maple feeding event. — Participants in the Naejangsan maple-feeding event (14 April 2023). Photo: Korea National Park Service

When to come for the colour

Naejangsan autumn colour, recent years

2024: Peak around the first week of November
2025: Peak around the first week of November
2026: No forecast published yet — the park announces it during October
Practical window: Late October to mid-November, with the last week of October often good for early colour and smaller crowds

Forecasts are published each autumn and move by a week or so with the weather. If your dates are fixed and fall in late October, go anyway: partial colour in a quiet park is a better experience than peak colour in the crush.

A drone view over Uhwajeong at Naejangsan: a pavilion in the middle of a pond, the slopes around it entirely red with maples. — Uhwajeong at Naejangsan with the colour at its peak (drone photograph, 3 November 2024). Photo: Korea National Park Service

Uhwajeong reflected in its pond, the red maples of Naejangsan behind it. — Autumn on the Uhwajeong pond at Naejangsan. Photo: Korea National Park Service

The valley and hillsides around Uhwajeong turned to autumn colour. — The Uhwajeong area of Naejangsan National Park in autumn (from a press release of 8 October 2024). Photo: Korea National Park Service

Getting there, and the autumn crowd

Naejangsan is in Jeongeup, Jeonbuk. The nearest rail station is Jeongeup, on the Honam line, with local buses to the park.
At peak colour the approach is one of the busiest places in the country at a weekend. A weekday morning is a different park.
There is no entrance fee. Parking is charged.
The designated entry-time system applies here as in every park except Taeanhaean — check the board at the trailhead for the latest start time.

The multi-purpose location signboard for Naejangsan National Park, showing the whole trail network. — The Naejangsan National Park location signboard, with the full trail map. Photo: Korea National Park Service

The Ssanggyeru pavilion and its pond at Baegyangsa, with the cliff of Baekhakbong and small red maples behind. — Baekhakbong and the small maples of Baegamsan seen from Ssanggyeru (4 November 2024). Photo: Korea National Park Service

What the park has not published

The operating hours for the trail, and whether numbers are capped, are not in the press material. Ask at the Naejangsan visitor centre when you collect the form.

The 2025 information poster for the 'AI Gwangjipsa' service at Naejangsan. — The 'AI Gwangjipsa' poster from the 2025 maple season — whether it runs again in 2026 is unconfirmed. Photo: Korea National Park Service · Original

Frequently asked questions

Q. When did the Wish Fulfilment Trail open?: On 1 September 2026, and no closing date has been announced, so it should be running through the autumn colour season and beyond.
Q. What does it cost?: Nothing. The walk is free and so is entry to the park — Korea's national parks charge no admission. The only optional cost is a candle offering at Naejangsa temple at the end.
Q. Do I need to book?: No. You fill in a form at the Naejangsan visitor centre and start walking. There is no online reservation and no advance application.
Q. Where does the route go?: From the visitor centre along the 108 Maple Road, past a maple designated a natural monument, and finishing at Naejangsa temple, with one small task at each of the four points.
Q. When do the maples peak at Naejangsan?: Around the first week of November in both 2024 and 2025. The 2026 forecast had not been published at the time of writing; the park announces it during October and it moves with the weather.

Sources

Official notice (Korean)

Written in our own words from the sources above, never copied from them, and every date and price checked against at least two pages. The originals are in Korean. Spotted a mistake? Ask for a correction.