Yongso Falls (yongso pokpo [용소폭포])

Seo-myeon / Seoraksan National Park, Gangwon-do, South Korea

About Yongso Falls (yongso pokpo [용소폭포])

For Subscribers Only. See Membership Options.

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Yongso Falls (Yongso Pokpo [용소폭포]) was a modestly-sized 6m tall waterfall nestled within the southern part of Seoraksan National Park in the northeast of South Korea.

In my mind, it felt like this waterfall was more of a side attraction or a waterfaller’s excuse to experience the tall cliffs and rock formations of a towering steep-walled canyon that reminded me of the Shosenkyo Gorge in Japan.

Yongso_039_06122023 - Yongso Falls in Seoraksan National Park
Yongso Falls in Seoraksan National Park

Indeed, the short trail down to this waterfall from the nearest trailhead (a dangerous one because it sits in a blind turn; see directions below) is a mere 500-600m.

It starts off by going down a series of steps to get down to the level of the stream responsible for Yongso Falls, and it’s here that the trail becomes a combination of rock ledges and bridges or planks.

We were just upstream from the brink of the Yongso Waterfall, and when viewed from further down the trail, we could see how water kind of shoots sideways over the lip of its underlying bedrock before making its 6m leap (attesting to the speed of the water).

We still had to go further down the trail before reaching a bridge over the river, where we could get a frontal look right at the Yongoso Falls (which you can see in the photo above).

Yongso_026_06122023 - Side view of the Yongso Falls showing just how fast the water flows here given how much air it catches as it makes its leap
Side view of the Yongso Falls showing just how fast the water flows here given how much air it catches as it makes its leap

Now we could just turn back at this point and return to the car park for a short excursion, but the trail so far only gave us a teasing glimpse of what’s in this canyon.

Exploring Beyond Yongso Falls

After having our fill of the frontal views of this falls, we kept going downstream in the canyon over a suspension bridge over more bouldery cascades all towered over by sharply rising bare-rock pinnacles and peaks.

Continuing further along the trail, the canyon kept drawing us in further as we encountered more bare rock formations and cliffs around us.

Eventually after 800m from the nearest trailhead, we arrived at a bridge and trail junction (labeled Geumgangmun according to my Gaia GPS map).

Yongso_091_06122023 - The scenery actually gets more interesting further downstream from the Yongso Falls
The scenery actually gets more interesting further downstream from the Yongso Falls

From here, theoretically we could have gone right towards the Sipi (or Sibi) Waterfall or keep to the left and continue further downstream on the same river system.

We intended to take the path on the right towards the Sipi Waterfall until a staffer manning a kiosk in front of the entrance to that part of the trail turned us away.

He didn’t speak English, but all I could understand from our conversation was that it was “too difficult” (perhaps we needed permits or some booking to go that way?) even though the start of the trail looked developed.

As for the other fork in the trail, it would pretty much continue along the river for another 2km or so as we’d ultimately enter the Jujeongol Valley and eventually end up at the Osaek Mineral Springs.

Yongso_003_iPhone_06132023 - Making it down to a trail junction with a gate at one of the forks, where we were turned back by a person who was regulating access to the trail leading to Sipi (or Sibi) Falls and beyond
Making it down to a trail junction with a gate at one of the forks, where we were turned back by a person who was regulating access to the trail leading to Sipi (or Sibi) Falls and beyond

In fact, we noticed quite a few people that did do the entire 3.2km one-way shuttle hike to Osaek Mineral Springs, where they must have had an arrangement to taxi or shuttle back to the original trailhead with the blind turn.

Finally, it’s worth noting that GoogleMaps also has this waterfall labeled as Jujeon Pokpo (주전폭포 or Jujeon Falls) perhaps to distinguish it from other Yongso Falls in South Korea (e.g. one in Gapyeong and another in Jirisan).

For the record, we only hiked down to the trail fork and back, which according to my GPS logs was roughly 800m or so round trip and it took us about an hour mostly because we stopped to take photos a lot.

When we returned to the car park, we encountered giant Korean hiking groups (easily dozens of people), which made the trail feel crowded, and perhaps it was a good thing that we stopped when we did.

Yongso_098_06122023 - Looking back at one of the cascades beneath the suspension bridge downstream from the Yongso Falls
Looking back at one of the cascades beneath the suspension bridge downstream from the Yongso Falls

So despite the somewhat obscure nature of the Yongso Falls and this canyon (or so I thought), tour bus groups definitely come here.

Authorities

Yongso Falls resides in Seoraksan National Park in Sokcho-si county of the Gangwon-do Province, South Korea. It is administered by the Korea National Park Service as well as local authorities. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting this website, which lists a phone number that you can call.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.

Related Top 10 Lists

No Posts Found

Trip Planning Resources


Nearby Accommodations

This content is for subscribers only. See Membership Options.

Tagged with: yongseo waterfall, yongso waterfall, yongso falls, yongso pokpo, yongseo pokpo, osaekcheon, south korea, korea, jujeongol Valley, osaek



Visitor Comments:

Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...

No users have replied to the content on this page


Share your thoughts about what you've read on this page

You must be logged in to submit content. Refresh this page after you have logged in.

Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:

If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...

No users have submitted a write-up/review of this waterfall


Have you been to a waterfall? Submit a write-up/review and share your experiences or impressions

Review A Waterfall

Nearest Waterfalls

The Waterfaller Newsletter

The Waterfaller Newsletter is where we curate the wealth of information on the World of Waterfalls website and deliver it to you in bite-sized chunks in your email inbox. You'll also get exclusive content like...

  • Waterfall Wednesdays
  • Insider Tips
  • User-submitted Waterfall Write-up of the Month
  • and the latest news and updates both within the website as well as around the wonderful world of waterfalls


How To Build A Profitable Travel Blog In 4 Steps

Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.