Pictures of climbing Ulsanbawi 울산바위 （蔚山岩） in Seoraksan

I thought the climb from Heundeulbawi to the base of Ulsanbawi was hard, but it was nothing compared to actually climbing up Ulsanbawi to get to the very top. Boy, was I wrong!

Everyone told me Ulsanbawi would be the most difficult course at Seoraksan National Park, but when I got to the base of the rock, it looked rather innocuous. Don't get me wrong, it was really high, but seeing so many people enjoying their picnics amongst the rocks made me momentarily relaxed. 

Base of Ulsanbawi Rock

I grew even more relaxed when I saw the red metal stairs.

Red metal stairs to Ulsanbawi

So that's it? Climbing Ulsanbawi would just be climbing some stairs? I mean, they were steep stairs, but they were stairs and not jutting rocks. I deluded myself into thinking that the climb wouldn't be so bad after all.

That feeling didn't last very long though.

* * *

I was still delusional when I took the first few steps up the red metal stairs. They were like normal stairs. Nothing scary whatsoever.

Climbing up red metal stairs to Ulsanbawi

But, then they grew steeper. And the wind grew stronger. And my hands started shaking. And I kept telling myself that I was crazy for trying to take more pictures when I should be holding tightly onto the railing.

Climbing up Ulsanbawi

And by the way, the metals stairs weren't metal stairs all the way up. Some parts of the stairs were actually rocks and at one point, which I'll get to later, the steps literally were just rocks stacked on top of one another.

Climbing up Ulsanbawi

There is nothing like the view though. It's as if you can see for miles and miles from one single vantage point. Pictures don't do it justice.

View from climbing up Ulsanbawi

It wasn't very crowded as I made my way up Ulsanbawi.

Climbing up Ulsanbawi

See how high I am? I'm not afraid of heights, but I remember feeling really nervous as I looked down at all the tiny, tiny people.

View from climbing up Ulsanbawi

Climbing up Ulsanbawi

I also noticed some concrete stairs under the red metal stairs. I couldn't believe that people actually went up Ulsabawi on those before the red metal stairs were installed!

Old stairs under red metal stairs at Ulsanbawi

The stairs seemed never-ending:

Red metal stairs at Ulsanbawi

I bet I annoyed everyone because I kept stopping to take pictures:

Looking down from the red stairs at Ulsanbawi

This was where things got a lot harder to climb. There was a stretch of red stairs that was fairly flat and easy to walk on, but this cave-looking hole was where the easy stairs ended and the hard "stairs" took over.

Climbing up Ulsanbawi

This is the stretch of easier, flat red stairs I'm talking about:

Red metal stairs while climbing up Ulsanbawi

And this is what the stairs turn into after walking through the cave-hole:

Stairs inside cave at Ulsanbawi

Parts of the stairs were just rocks stacked on top of each other! The steps were also really steep and the space to maneuver yourself up was quite narrow. If you get scared, don't fixate on your fear. Try not to stop. Just keep going and follow the person in front of you. You will pass by before you know it!

On a safety note, I noticed one of the steps (though I don't remember exactly where) was rusty and cracked. Other people were stomping on it so I guess it held up okay, but even though the metal stairs look secure, it's best to be cautious of everything. I reported the damage to the Seoraksan park so hopefully they got that fixed.

This is me taking a picture of the view as I came out of that hole:

Climbing up Ulsanbwai

And this is where things got crowded. You are literally walking on top of rocks and in between spaces. As you are making your way up, people are making their way down, on the same exact narrow path.

Crowded while climbing up Ulsanbawi

But from there, I could see the top of Ulsanbawi!

Top of Ulsanbawi

From there, there are two paths you can take to reach different parts of the top of Ulsanbawi. One looked to be slightly further away and the other one looked higher. I chose to go higher. Here, however, is a picture of the other route (the one I did not take):

Top of Ulsanbawi

And finally I reached the top! In hindsight, that other route might have been the better route to take because it looks a lot more spacious. At the top of the path I chose, there was very little room to move around, especially with all of the other hikers.

Top of Ulsanbawi

I still got a pretty good view though. I think one of these is supposed to be North Korea:

View of Korea from the top of Ulsanbawi

View of Korea from the top of Ulsanbawi

View of Korea from the top of Ulsanbawi

The view from the top of Ulsanbawi was actually a bit underwhelming. I guess I may have felt that way because it was crowded and part of the view was obscured by rocks so it didn't feel as "free" or "open" as it could have been.

There were also several people selling photographs. If you see other hikers wearing something around their neck, that something is probably a picture they bought of themselves at the top. I didn't purchase one, but the guy selling the pictures was nice enough to take ones of me with my camera. If you ask someone to take your picture, make sure you check your picture and get multiple ones taken (vertical and horizontal) to minimize the chance you'll go home and not like the shot.

Photographers at the top of Ulsanbawi

I initially thought I'd rest at the top of Ulsanbawi for half an hour, but it was pretty crowded and loud. Lots of people were making their way up and kind of pushing to get to the edge of the rail to see the view, so it wasn't as peaceful as the other areas of Seoraksan. I decided to head back down after catching my breath.

It took me 30 minutes to climb up and probably the same amount of time to go back down. I actually found it a bit more difficult to go down than up because of the steepness of some of the rocks. It's easier to climb up something steep because you can pull yourself up but when you are going down, you have to be wary of your balance. Luckily, everyone was quite patient so hikers going up would stand aside and give me time to make my way through.

The only picture I took on my way down was one of this rock that looked like a fused bugle:

Rock at Ulsanbawi

As I was going back down, I noticed a lot more people were going up. It's probably a good idea to climb Ulsanbawi in the morning because having the top of such a narrow mountain be so crowded definitely makes it harder and riskier to climb.

By the time I reached the base of Ulsanbawi, I had to sit down for a bit and drink some water. My hands and knees were all shaky, but it really was an awesome feeling. You get such an adrenaline rush when you are so high up!

However, it's important to keep in mind that Ulsanbawi is definitely not suitable for young kids or those in poor physical health. It's probably also a no brainer that people with a fear of heights should avoid this part of the course. Nonetheless, there were lots of old Korean people making the climb.

Is climbing Ulsanbawi dangerous? Yes, but it's not dangerous if you are careful with your footing. Is Ulsanbawi difficult to climb? Yes, although this is coming from an inexperienced hiker. Is it worth it to climb Ulsanbawi? I'd have to answer yes for that too. Although, unless I wanted to take better pictures or film video footage, I don't think I'd climb all the way up a second time. I'd probably hike the Ulsanbawi course to the base of the rock, but going all the way to the top once is enough for me.

The Heundeulbawi and Ulsanbawi course is one of the more difficult ones to hike at Seoraksan, but I thought all of the beautiful scenery made it more than worthwhile. It's a tiring trail, but it's a lot of fun if you give yourself time and take lots of breaks. Even if you don't make it to the very top of Ulsanbawi, it's still nice to be able to see the rock up close.