Gayasan Sori-gil: autumn valley walk to Haeinsa — photo draw to 15 Nov

Walk the Sori-gil in Gayasan National Park, Hapcheon, buy a meal or a coffee in Chiin village below Haeinsa Temple, post it on Instagram, and you go into a draw for local farm produce. The Gayasan office of the Korea National Park Service announced the event on 19 October 2026 under the title "Walk the Sori-gil, eat well, get a gift from the national park". The aim is to point walkers at the heritage sites strung along the path and then send them on to the village's shops. It runs through the Hongnyudong valley's autumn colour season, so anyone already planning the walk only needs a few extra photos.

How do you enter the Sori-gil photo draw?

Following the order on the official poster, there are four steps. You need both kinds of photo, both hashtags and the consent form to be in the draw.

1. Walk the trail — take a photo at one of the heritage panels along the path (the poster calls them cultural-resource interpretation panels; there are ten).
2. Eat in Chiin village — photograph food from a restaurant or café there. The poster asks for the receipt in the shot as well.
3. Post on Instagram — share both photos with the two hashtags (#가야산소리길 #가야산먹방).
4. Submit the consent form — through the QR code at the bottom of the poster. Posting without this step does not complete the entry.

What is the prize, and how many people win?

Ten people are drawn every day, 300 in total, and each receives local farm produce. The press release text says farm produce and the poster says local specialities; the poster artwork shows rice, apples, pears, chestnuts, sweet potatoes and honey, but no actual list has been published. After the event the park office plans to survey entrants and village traders and use the results to plan further schemes linking heritage sites with local business.

How long is the Sori-gil, and where does it start?

The Sori-gil starts at the trail entrance by Daejanggyeong Theme Park, passes Nongsanjeong pavilion and Gilsangam hermitage, and ends at Yeongsangyo Bridge in front of Haeinsa: about 6 km, which both the Korea National Park Service and the Korea Tourism Organization's Durunubi walking site put at 2 hours 30 minutes and rate easy. It follows a restored old valley path at low altitude, so there is little climbing. Start and finish are in different places, though — it is a one-way route — so decide where to leave the car, or how to get back, before setting off.

By car, you can start from the Daejanggyeong Theme Park car park or from the Sori-gil visitor support centre partway along, near Hwangsan 2-gu village. By public transport, Durunubi gives the route from Hapcheon intercity bus terminal: a Geochang-bound bus to Myosan, then a rural bus to the Hwangsan stop. Some press articles give other lengths such as 7.3 km; this article uses the park service's figure.

What will you see on the way? The Hongnyudong valley and Nongsanjeong

As the name — roughly 'sound path' — suggests, you walk with the stream and the wind for company. The path crosses the valley on several bridges and passes many of the views counted among Gayasan's nineteen scenic spots (sources count 15 or 16 of them on this route). Hongnyudong — 'red-flowing valley', said to be named for autumn leaves reflected in the water — is this stretch. Which ten panels count for the draw has not been published, so photograph heritage panels as you come across them.

Halfway along, Nongsanjeong is a pavilion built later on the spot where the late-Silla scholar Choe Chi-won is said to have stayed and read; the press release singles it out as the trail's main heritage site. Durunubi warns of a rockfall-risk stretch beyond the Nongsanjeong boardwalk, so keep away from the rock face after rain.

Why is the last stretch, Gilsangam to Yeongsangyo, the one people single out?

The final 20 minutes from Gilsangam to Yeongsangyo Bridge follow the Nakhwadam gorge on a run of bridges and boardwalks and are usually called the best scenery on the Sori-gil. This section is built as a barrier-free trail, with braille panels among its features, so wheelchair users, people with pushchairs or anyone who would find the full walk too much can do just this stretch from the Haeinsa end. Gilsangam is the place on the trail to get water.

After Yeongsangyo — Haeinsa and the autumn colour

A short climb past Yeongsangyo brings you to Haeinsa. The Janggyeong Panjeon halls that store the Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, and the woodblocks themselves joined the Memory of the World register in 2007. You cannot go inside the halls; you look in through the slatted windows. Walk the trail, see Haeinsa, then go down to Chiin village to eat — that is the whole event route.

What to have ready before you enter

• Deadline — 15 November on the poster. If you plan to enter later, ring the park office (+82 55-930-8015) first.
• Receipt — photograph it with your food.
• Both hashtags — do not drop either of (#가야산소리길 #가야산먹방).
• Consent form — the entry is complete only after the QR-code form, not at the Instagram post.
• Route — it is one way, so plan parking and the way back (taxi or bus) in advance.

Getting there from Seoul, and what to expect if you do not read Korean

Haeinsa's own directions page gives the public-transport route: train to Dongdaegu Station, Daegu Metro Line 1 to Seobu Jeongnyujang (West Bus Terminal) station, then an intercity bus from the terminal to Haeinsa. Check current departures before you go. The Sori-gil starts at the Daejanggyeong Theme Park end, below the temple, so either arrange transport down to the trail entrance or walk only the barrier-free Gilsangam–Yeongsangyo section as an out-and-back from the temple end. Nothing needs booking: the trail is free and open during the park's set entry hours, and walking it needs no Korean phone number. The photo draw is different — the consent form is in Korean and the prize is produce delivered within Korea, so treat it as optional. The event's heritage panels are written for Korean readers; we could not confirm how much of the other trail signage carries English.