We hiked South Korea’s Jeju Olle Trail in March of 2024. To give you a sense of “life on the trail”, I’ve published my digital logbook here with minimal edits. This post covers our final two days on courses 11 and 10, walking counter-clockwise. Highlights of this area: Mt. Sanbang, Alddreu Airforce Base outdoor museum, and Songaksan peninsula and viewpoint.

Day 16: Course 11 Mureung to Daejeong, 12 miles, sunny and very windy

We had a long walk through a rejuvenated forest area this morning; a green tunnel with the sun casting rays into dark shadows. The wind sounded like a jet engine roaring in the distant blue sky. Little signs provided the scientific names of various ferns, vines, and a particularly scary-looking prickly bush!

After about 5 kilometers, the wooded path opened into farmland. We came to a desolate crossroad and stopped for a coffee and snack break, then continued for several miles in a headwind, apparently through Jeju’s largest graveyard. Literally miles of graves, including many belonging to a Catholic Church.

Broccoli flowering in Jeju Island, Korea

We followed the path (and the graves) up a steep oreum with a military base at the top. We circled the oreum near the summit, with nice views of Hallasan, Sanbangsan, the sea, and a broad plateau of farmland.

We descended the oreum, sauntered into the small city of Daejeong, had a bathroom break at the local library, and continued through town to the sea shore. We followed the coast a bit, observing the white caps crashing along the shoreline. We had bibimbap and fish (보리 비빔밥 정식) for lunch at a small local place near the 5 day market. The owner was very kind, giving us oranges and some extra fried potatoes. A final stretch through town and we settled on a hotel with an in-room hot tub.

Day 17: Course 10 Daejeong to Andeok Myeon; 9 miles, sunny and clear skies

Our final day on the Jeju Olle trail and Course 10 proved to be one our favorite sections of the trip. First few miles had eye-popping fields of canola and excellent views of Sanbangsan, Hallasan, and surrounding farm land.

Jeju Island farmer, Mt. Sanbang and Hallasan

Then we entered a “dark tourism” area with a more somber mood. Alddrue Airforce Base was built during Japan’s colonial occupation of Korea (1910-1945) as a staging ground for attacks on China. It was also used for Japan’s air operations during World War II. The base was built by forced conscripted laborers on land stolen from the local Jeju people. The airstrips have become farm fields, but the local people leave twenty airplane bunkers/hangars intact as a memorial to the atrocities of the Japanese occupation and war. The local people were never compensated for their stolen land or labor… and remain bitter.

At the end of Alddreu Airforce Base was a memorial dedicated to 300+ local Jeju people arrested in the early 1950s after the Americans and Seung Man Lee assumed control of the South Korean government. The people were arrested, shot and killed without due legal process on the supposition that they were communists and rebels. A very passionate older man whose father was among those killed was there to escort and educate us on the atrocities committed at that time and place.

As we rounded the top of the hill and walked through golden grassy fields, I realized we were nearby Songaksan peninsula, which we had walked with Caffrey’s sisters a few months prior on a rainy day in September (photos below). A black sand beach leads to Japanese airplane caves hidden in the cliffs. You can follow the high trail along the peninsula.

We skipped the circular peninsula route today, since we had done it before. In the interest of time on our last day, we cut straight for Sanbangsan, passing a petrified sand beach where dinosaur and early human footprints are preserved. It was a colorful area: red and brown sandstone, black sand and lava rocks, sea blues and turquoise, bright green algae. Stunning!

A hike up to the Buddhist grotto temple within Sanbangsan is worth it. For a small donation, you will be rewarded with a cup of cool mountain spring water and perhaps some prayers granted. The sweeping views of Songak Peninsula and the bay area aren’t bad either!

We finished up our hike with a final climb up the opposite side of Sanbangsan, passing through canola fields and a monument to a Dutch explorer, Hendrick Hamel. In 1653, Hamel and his crew of 63 sailors on a merchant ship bound for Taiwan were blown off-course and landed on Jeju Island. They stayed for over a decade. When he returned home to the Netherlands, he wrote a book about his experience in Jeju Island. The memorial is a symbol of friendship between the Netherlands and Korea.

A final walk above farmland and a few secluded beach coves marked the end of our journey. At the KOSPO Namjeju Power Plant, we headed into the town of Andeok-Myeong and caught a bus bound for Jeju City. We retrieved our stored items from the locker facility (USD$15.00) and walked to the airport as the last blazes of the Jeju sunset burned in the sky.