Joseon royal tomb forest trails open for autumn — until 29 November

The Joseon royal tombs, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are usually visited along a fixed route from the gate to the shrine in front of the burial mound. The woods behind and around the mounds are fenced off for most of the year. From 1 October to 29 November 2026 the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center of the Korea Heritage Service opens forest paths at nine of the tombs — Donggureung, Gwangneung, Uireung, Yungneung and Geolleung among them — adding up to 19.04 km. The center has opened these trails each spring and autumn since 2019. What makes this worth an afternoon is that it is a walk through World Heritage woodland, in autumn colour, within about an hour of central Seoul.

Do I need to book, and how much is it?

No booking is needed. There is no separate trail fee either: buy a ticket for the tomb at its own booth and walk through to the start of the trail. Most tombs charge adults KRW 1,000; Yeongneung in Yeoju charges KRW 500. For foreign visitors the paying age is 19–64; for Korean nationals it is 25–64, which is why Korean visitors aged 24 and under or 65 and over go in free. Residents of the district where a tomb stands get 50% off with ID.

Where are the nine trails, and how long are they?

The tombs are managed in four groups: the eastern tombs (Guri and Namyangju), the central ones (Seoul), the western ones (Hwaseong and Paju) and Yeoju. The routes and lengths below are copied from the opening plan attached to the Korea Heritage Service press release; names in brackets are the main rest spots along the way.

For a long walk pick one of the three trails over 3 km — Yungneung–Geolleung, Yeongneung or Samneung. With children or older walkers, Sareung and Gwangneung are both under 1 km. For an easy trip by subway within Seoul, Taereung and Gangneung and Uireung are the closest.

The eastern tombs: Donggureung, Gwangneung and Sareung

Donggureung holds nine royal tombs, the largest group of any Joseon burial site, and its two trails together run to more than 2.7 km. Gwangneung's path goes from the dismount stone past the mound to a wood of paperbark maples, which turn red in autumn, so late October is the time to aim for. Sareung's is a short 775 m from the red gate to the pine path behind the mound.

The central tombs: Taereung–Gangneung and Uireung, inside Seoul

The 1.7 km trail between Taereung and Gangneung links the two tombs, and the 1.1 km Uireung trail climbs into the foot of Cheonjangsan behind it. The photo below is from the spring opening, so the colours are different now. We could not find a usable photo of the Uireung trail, so it appears in text only.

The western tombs and Yeoju: which trail is longest?

The longest of the nine is the Yungneung–Geolleung trail (3,693 m) in Hwaseong. It links the tombs of Crown Prince Sado and his son King Jeongjo and passes a rest area called the wildflower yard. The Samneung trail in Paju (3,180 m) loops through the small-pond woods between Yeongneung and Sulleung and round the north side of the Gongneung mound; Paju Jangneung's trail runs 1,675 m along the north side of its mound.

The outer loop at Yeongneung in Yeoju — the tombs of King Sejong and King Hyojong — is 3,250 m, the second longest. There is no official photo of it, so none appears here. At KRW 500 for adults it is also the cheapest of the nine.

When is last entry, and when is it closed?

The press release gives the trail hours as 09:00–17:00 in October and 09:00–16:30 in November and says they match the tombs' own opening hours. The center's hours page, though, lists the tombs as open 09:00–18:00 in September–October (last entry 17:00) and 09:00–17:30 in November (last entry 16:30). The press release figures are the last entry times, so plan to arrive an hour or two before them if you want to walk a trail to the end.

• The tombs close every Monday. When a Monday is a public holiday they open and close the next day instead.
• Donggureung opens its grounds at 06:00, but the press release gives the trail hours from 09:00.
• Openings may be adjusted for weather.
• The center has posted a separate notice (30 September 2026) listing holiday openings and free-admission days for October and November; check it before picking a date.

When should I go this autumn?

The trails close on 29 November and reopen next spring. Leaves turn first in the north of Gyeonggi (Paju, Namyangju, Guri) and later in Hwaseong and Yeoju, so late October suits the northern tombs and early November the southern ones. Each tomb also has its own route to the shrine and the mound; do not walk the trail and leave without seeing those.

Getting there and what to expect without Korean

The two Seoul tombs are the simplest to reach. Uireung is in Seokgwan-dong, Seongbuk-gu, a walk of roughly 15–20 minutes from Dolgoji Station (Line 6). Taereung and Gangneung sit beside Hwarangno in Nowon-gu, a short bus or taxi ride from Hwarangdae Station (Line 6). Yeongneung in Yeoju has its own stop on the Gyeonggang Line, Sejong Daewangneung Station (세종대왕릉역), from which it is a short taxi ride. For Donggureung, Gwangneung, Sareung, the Paju tombs and Yungneung–Geolleung, search the tomb's name in Naver Map or KakaoMap, which handle bus transfers better than Google Maps does in Korea. Tickets are sold at the gate by card or cash, with nothing to book and no phone verification. The main information boards at the tombs carry English; signage along the forest paths may be Korean only, but the trails are short, fenced loops that bring you back to the main grounds.