The Jeju Olle Trail

The route

The Jeju Olle Trail is 437 km of waymarked walking in 27 routes. Twenty-one of them link into a loop round the whole island, starting with Route 1 at Siheung, near Seongsan in the east, and the other six are side routes, some of them on small islands offshore. The trail was the work of Suh Myung-sook, a journalist who walked the Camino de Santiago and came home wanting the same kind of slow walk for her own island. She set up the Jeju Olle Foundation in 2007 and opened the first route that year. She died in April 2026, aged 68, and in July the government awarded her, after her death, the Moran Medal of the Order of Civil Merit.

The Camino link still stands. Since 2022 the Foundation and the Galician authorities have offered a joint certificate to walkers who complete at least 100 km on each trail. If you have walked the Camino Francés, this is its Korean cousin.

Routes 6 to 10 cover the southwest part of the loop. Route 6 follows the coast from Soesokkak into the centre of Seogwipo. Route 7 leaves the Olle Tourist Centre for the sea cliffs at Oedolgae and the harbour at Beophwan, then turns inland and uphill to finish at Seogwipo Bus Terminal. This is a change: older guides take Route 7 along the coast to Wolpyeong, where Route 8 begins. The Foundation now lists the two as separate, so a bus ride links them.

From Wolpyeong the line runs round Jungmun to Daepyeong, climbs inland over Gunsan Oreum, one of the island’s small volcanic hills, to Hwasun, and rounds Sanbangsan and Songaksan to Moseulpo. Udo and Gapado have their own island routes, reached by ferry.

What the walking is like

Route 6 opens gently. At Soesokkak a stream from the hills meets the sea between walls of dark rock, and the water lies still in a sheltered basin. The path follows the shore past small harbours and the low stone walls of Bomok, then gathers pace into Seogwipo itself, past the salt hut and the coastal falls at Jeongbang, and up through Lee Jung-seop Street to the Olle Tourist Centre. It is a town walk as much as a coast walk, and a good first day.

Route 7 brings the first sea cliffs. Soon after the start comes Oedolgae, a single spire of rock standing in the sea off a green shore. Beyond it runs Subong-ro, a stretch of path that an Olle ranger, Kim Subong, cut by hand with a shovel and a pickaxe along ground that only goats used before. Wet basalt is slippery here, and a heavy swell makes the shore loud and exposed. At Beophwan the harbour brings cafés and fish restaurants, and then the route leaves the sea and climbs inland to the bus terminal.

Route 8 is long but rarely dull. Village lanes and small fields give way to the temple at Yakcheonsa, and then to the coast at Daepo Jusangjeolli, where lava that ran into the sea cooled into tall, packed columns, each with six sides. Round Jungmun the path passes resort hotels and the long curve of Saekdal Beach before the shore quietens towards Daepyeong, a small port under high cliffs.

Route 9 is a different kind of day. It leaves the harbour and climbs, steadily and steeply, onto Gunsan Oreum, and from the top there is a wide view over the coast. Then comes the long, shaded descent through the Andeok Valley, on earth and uneven track, with the trees and the valley walls closing in. In humid summer heat this is hard going.

Route 10 opens out again. Above the beach at Hwasun rises the great dome of Sanbangsan, and the path works round the Sagye shore and up onto Songaksan, a low volcanic headland of grassy ridges where the wind comes straight off the sea. On a clear day you can see the small islands offshore. Past the old Altteureu airfield, the land flattens, and the walk ends among the roads and fishing boats of Moseulpo.

The stages

Each stage is one of the Foundation’s numbered routes, with its own stamp boxes at the start, the middle and the end. The times are the Foundation’s, for walking only: add your stops and the bus.

Places on the way

Four places show how much the south coast changes in five days: a river meeting the sea, columns of lava, a beach below the resorts, and an open headland at the western end.

Soesokkak

The start of Route 6, where a stream meets the sea between walls of dark rock. It is a calm, easy place to begin, a short walk from the bus.

Daepo Jusangjeolli

On Route 8, lava that flowed into the sea cooled into packed, six-sided columns along the shore. In a heavy swell the waves break hard against them. It sits in a busy visitor area, so come early for quiet.

Jungmun Saekdal Beach

The long beach below the Jungmun resorts, about halfway along Route 8. It is a place to take your boots off and, with the resorts above, one of the easier places on the route to find food before the quieter stretch to Daepyeong.

Songaksan

A low volcanic headland on Route 10, crossed by the Haesong-gil path above the sea. It is open to the wind and the surf, with long views to the islands when the air is clear.

Planning the walk

When should I walk it?

In spring or autumn: late March to mid-May, or mid-September to mid-November, as the Foundation’s English guide recommends. The guide advises against late June, July and August, when heat and humidity make the hill days hard. Summer and early autumn also bring monsoon rain and typhoons. Whatever the season, a windy day with heavy surf can make the coast unpleasant or close parts of it, so keep one day spare.

Do I need to book or get a permit?

No: the routes are free and open to all, with no permit. What you do need to book is somewhere to sleep, at least a day ahead. You can buy an Olle passport at the Olle Tourist Centre in Seogwipo or the other Foundation information centres, and stamp it at the boxes along each route.

Should I stay in one place, or move along the coast?

Stay in Seogwipo if you can: Route 6 ends and Route 7 starts in the town, the bus terminal is close, and you carry only a day pack. The western routes mean longer bus rides, so you might move to Jungmun or Moseulpo for the last two nights. Our guide to where to stay in Jeju compares the areas, and where to eat in Jeju covers Seogwipo’s food.

How do I get to the start, and back from the finish?

By the island’s buses. Every route starts and ends in a town or village, but the times vary from stop to stop and change through the year. Check each day’s connection before you set off, and especially the last bus back. From the airport, the 600 limousine bus runs to Jungmun and Seogwipo. For the cards and ways of paying, see getting around South Korea.

How fit do I need to be, and what should I carry?

Fit enough to walk 19.3 km in a day, and ready for one steep climb on Route 9.

Is it all right to walk alone?

Yes, with sensible care: the routes are well waymarked. The Foundation’s English guide describes a way to find walking companions if you would rather not. Walking alone, tell someone your route for the day, keep to the signed path, and finish well before dark. Stay out of fields, and give any loose farm dogs a wide berth.

Can I walk it with children, or with limited mobility?

With children, choose parts rather than the whole: Route 6 and short stretches of coast make good family walks, but Route 8 is long and Route 9 is graded hard. None of the five routes is step-free from end to end. The Foundation marks wheelchair-accessible stretches on Routes 6, 8 and 10, and shows them on each route’s page; Route 7 has none.

If the walk goes wrong

High wind, heavy surf or a typhoon warning. Do not go round a rope, fence or closure sign on the coast, even under a blue sky. Leave by the nearest road and take the bus, or swap the day for a town day and walk tomorrow. Check the weather and the Foundation’s notices before you start.

The waymarks run out. Go back to the last arrow or ribbon you were sure of. Trust the marks on the ground over an old GPS file, and never cut across a field.

Route 9 is too much, or you are hurt. Turn back or leave at a road, not down an unmarked slope, then take a bus or taxi. In an emergency, call 119 and send your location from a map app. Do not rely on phone signal in the valley.

You miss the last bus. Finish in a town, not on a dark country road, and take a taxi or a room there.