Geonwolleung's silver-grass mound opens — 3–8 November 2026

Geonwolleung, where Taejo, the founder of the Joseon dynasty, is buried, is the only Joseon royal tomb whose mound is covered in silver grass instead of turf. On an ordinary day visitors may go as far as the red gate and the T-shaped shrine at the foot of the hill, and the burial area on top is closed. For a few days in late autumn, when the grass is at its fullest, a guide takes small groups up to the mound itself. This year the Eastern Royal Tombs Office of the Korea Heritage Service runs it from 3 to 8 November.

The catch is booking. Advance places, 20 per session, were gone three days after they opened. So this piece starts with whether you can still go, then what to check before relying on a walk-in place, and then why this one mound is grass.

When did the burial mound start opening?

The burial area (neungchim) is the mound where the king lies and the ring of stone figures around it. Joseon royal tombs keep it closed to protect it. Geonwolleung was opened on trial in 2018, the response was good, and since 2019 it has opened every year at the peak of the silver grass. In 2019 each session took 40 people by reservation; now a session is 30, 20 booked in advance and ten taken on the day.

The walk lasts an hour, up to the mound and back. What is different from an ordinary visit is standing inside the low wall that rings the mound, right beside the stone sheep and tigers and the civil and military officials carved in stone.

If advance booking is full, how do walk-in places work?

Side by side, the two routes look like this. On the walk-in side the official notice says little beyond the number.

Ten walk-in places a session means twenty a day across both sessions. Because nobody has said when or where they are handed out, phone the office before making the trip to Guri. It is also worth checking the reservation site now and then in case cancelled places reappear.

Why is only Geonwolleung's mound covered in silver grass?

The Korea Heritage Service says Taejo asked to be buried under silver grass brought from his home town of Hamhung, in what is now North Korea, but it presents this as tradition — something that "is said" — rather than settled fact.

In its notices about the spring grass-cutting, the Korea Heritage Service cites the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty for the story that the grass was brought from Hamhung on Taejo's wishes and cut every year at Hansik, a spring festival. Its notice for this opening still writes "it is said", which keeps a line between what is recorded and what is told.

Cut in spring, full by autumn

The grass you see in November has grown for about seven months since it was cut back in spring. Every year at Hansik the office holds Cheongwan Yechoui (청완 예초의), a ceremony in which the grass on the mound is cut; in 2026 it took place on 6 April. Geonwolleung is the only royal tomb where it happens.

What else to see at Donggureung

Geonwolleung sits inside Donggureung, a group of nine royal tombs and part of the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty World Heritage Site. The guided walk takes an hour, so you can follow the forest paths to the other tombs after the morning session or before the afternoon one. From November to January Donggureung is open 06:30–17:30, with tickets sold until 16:30; it is closed on Mondays, which is why the opening runs Tuesday to Sunday and 2 November is a closed day.

Since December 2024 the history and culture hall near the entrance has displayed one of the stone drums that held up the stone table in front of Geonwolleung's mound. We could not confirm that it is still on show, so ask on site.

Before you go

• Walk-in time and desk: not announced. Ask the Eastern Royal Tombs Office (+82-31-579-4904) beforehand.
• Cancelled advance places: no re-release has been announced. Check Royal Palaces and Tombs reservation site → Royal Tombs from time to time.
• Admission: the press release says Donggureung admission is separate, but the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center has announced free entry to the royal tombs from 29 October to 15 November, and all six days fall inside it.
• Parking is charged.
• Donggureung closes on Mondays, so the opening starts on Tuesday 3 November and ends on Sunday 8 November.

Getting there, and what to expect without Korean

Donggureung is in Guri, just east of Seoul. The nearest subway station is Donggureung Station on Line 8, which opened in August 2024; check the walk to the tomb entrance on a map app before you set out. Several city buses also stop at Donggureung, among them routes from Gangbyeon and Gwangnaru stations. Allow at least an hour from central Seoul. The guide's commentary is in Korean and the press release mentions no English session, so a visitor without Korean gets the rare view — the grass mound and the stone figures from a step away — but not the explanation; read this page before you go. Advance booking ran through the Korean-language reservation site and is closed, so the only route is a walk-in place, and since the office answers the phone in Korean, ask a Korean speaker or your accommodation to make the call about the walk-in desk.