Visited on November 14, 2025
It’s been almost two months since I last reached the summit of Simhak Mountain. The light-green and green leaves have now changed color. I think my cardiovascular endurance has gotten worse over the past two months — it was tough this time.
I didn’t take a single photo today. I only filmed videos.
Visited on September 20, 2025
Luckily, even though it was a public holiday, I was able to park in the Yakcheon Temple parking lot. Then I headed to the summit of Simhak Mountain.
From Yakcheon Temple, you can choose from three trails, and you should take the middle one. The middle trail starts with a steep slope. After that, it consists of gentler inclines and uphill stairs. It’s the fastest route to the summit of Simhak Mountain. It takes about 20–30 minutes.
There was a cat near the summit that looked like an injeolmi rice cake. I’m not sure how it managed to endure the winter better than the past summer.
At the summit, there was a banner announcing the 2025 forest trail maintenance project. Since I’m writing this late, the construction is probably already finished.
After coming down from the summit, I visited the Yaksa Yeorae Great Buddha at Yakcheon Temple. There was a pagoda in front of the Buddha that hadn’t been there before, but I don’t know when it was built or what it’s called. It looked rather plain, which was a bit disappointing.
Location and Parking at Yakcheon Temple
The road address of “Yakcheon Temple” is 118, Gyoha-ro 681beon-gil, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do.
On public holidays, the parking lot at Yakcheon Temple is usually full. If you’re lucky and a spot opens up, you can park there. So, I recommend visiting on a weekday. Naturally, when the weather is bad, parking tends to be easier. There is no parking fee.
You can also park at the Simhak Mountain Park public parking lot and follow the trail (the Dulle-gil) to reach Yakcheon Temple.