Gayasan National Park, also known as Gaya Mountain National Park ( ko, 가야산국립공원), is a large

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in the eastern part of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. The park is named in honor of Gaya Mountain and became a National Park in 1972. The park includes

Haeinsa Haeinsa (해인사, 海印寺: Temple of the Ocean Mudra) is a head temple of the Jogye Order (대한불교조계종, 大韓佛敎曹溪宗) of Korean Seon Buddhism in Gayasan National Park (가야산, 伽倻山), South Gyeongsang Province, ...

, which is one of the main temples of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism.

Geography

Gayasan National Park covers an area of more than 160 square kilometers. The national park extends from the northern edge of

South Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World ...

Province, to the southern limit of

North Gyeongsang North Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상북도, translit=Gyeongsangbuk-do, ) is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until the ...

Province. The Sobaek Mountain range runs through this area.

Gaya Mountain

The national park is named in honor of Gaya Mountain. This mountain has two major peaks: one of them is Sangwangbong Peak, for which the height is 1,430 meters, and the other slightly higher peak, Chulbulbong, is 1,433 above sea level.

Special features

One significant feature of the national park is

. This Buddhist temple includes in its grounds a standing

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

figure carved into a vertical rock. Another feature of the park is Yongmun Falls and Hongnyudong Valley. 380 different species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

have been identified as growing there, as well as 100 species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s, and other wild

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

History

The area was declared scenic site number 5 by the Korean government in 1966, and it became an official

National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in 1972. The remoteness of the area has played a role in protecting it from destruction in the past, specifically during the Japanese invasions of 1592-98, when much of the country was razed. Since that time, legend says that the area around Gaya Mountains is free from the Three Disasters: fire, floods and wind.

Gallery

Image:Kayasan01.JPG, Gayasan from Haeinsa temple Image:Kayasan02.JPG, Gayasan from Southeast Image:Kayasan03.JPG, Ruins of Baekumam temple in Gayasan Image:Kayasan04.JPG,

Gayasan Castle Gayasan National Park, also known as Gaya Mountain National Park ( ko, 가야산국립공원), is a large national park in the eastern part of South Korea. The park is named in honor of Gaya Mountain and became a National Park in 1972. The par ...

in Gayasan Image:Kayasan05.JPG, Stone walls near Chilbulbong Peak in Gayasan (1) Image:Kayasan06.JPG, Stone walls near Chilbulbong Peak in Gayasan (2) Image:Kayasan07.JPG, Sangwangbong Peak of Gayasan Image:Kayasan08.JPG, Rituals of Buddhism in Gayasan

Recreation

Gayasan National Park has multiple hiking trails that run through the mountainous park. The most trafficked trail begins in Heinsa Temple and contains a guard station that provides park information for visitors. There are three designated campgrounds within the borders of the park for day use and overnight tent camping.

References

External links

The park's page on Korea National Park Service's website
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Korea in the Clouds: A Detailed Guide to Hiking Korea's MountainsPrintable Trailmap of Gayasan (from Korea in the Clouds)
{{authority control Parks in South Gyeongsang Province Parks in North Gyeongsang Province National parks of South Korea Mountains of South Korea Protected areas established in 1972 Mountains of North Gyeongsang Province Mountains of South Gyeongsang Province