ENTRANCES AND VILLAGES

It would be difficult to describe all the entrances and villages in this, the country's most famous national park. Nevertheless, here are the main ones:

Baemsagol (뱀사골), where you'll find a tourist village (Banseon) and a park office, from where you can reach Banyabong (4 hours to the summit). Accessible from Namwon.

Hwaeomsa (화엄사) to the southwest and the temple of the same name, a good start to Nogodan; there's a park office and a large tourist village.

Piagol to the south (피아골), where there are minbaks, a good starting point towards the valley and the refuge of the same name en route to Banyabong or Nogodan.

Ssanggyesa (쌍계사) to the south, with the temple of the same name and the Bul-il waterfall 2 km away, a starting point for Cheonghakdong and Seseok. There's also a small tourist village and a park office. A little higher up is the village of Daeseongni, the nearest entrance to Seseok.

Cheonghakdong (청학동) and its traditional village to the southeast, which we treated in the Gyeongsangnam-do region.

Jungsanni (중사니) to the southeast, which has minbaks; this is the nearest entrance to Cheonwangbong, the highest peak.

Daewonsa (대원사) to the east, the entrance to the temple of the same name has a few minbaks and a path to Cheonwangbong.

Uitalli (위탈리) to the northeast has a few minbaks and is the starting point for the Chilseon Valley and Cheonwangbong.

There are tourist information centers everywhere, where you can obtain maps of the park (in English, of course).