Songpa Walking Trail

Bench on the walking trail

I was about to start that post with The last 2 years were really hard and stressful for people all around the world. Many people were locked in their homes for days, weeks, and months… Nope, let’s start that post with positive vibes. Look at your area. Do you have beautiful walking paths close to your place? Or do you have streets that you pass by and you think that if someone cleans them up a little it would be much better?



I am sure there are small areas in each district that are not so clean, are not so bright at night, and sometimes are not safe.

A few months ago a local municipality started a project about the reconstruction of such areas in my district. That project created new leisure places, impacted local infrastructure, and motivated people on walking. The local municipality created a Walking trail along the district border.

Songpa icons (ㅅㅍ)

And I finally found a time to explore it by myself. It took me 2 days, i.e. I spent a whole weekend walking all the trail.

Briefly about the trail…

The total trail length is 21 km. It is split into 4 mini-trails. Each trail is unique and has a different length. My place is located almost in the centre of my district area, so I need to walk around 5-7 km to that trail and back. So in total, I walked around 40 km in 2 days xD

A trail map

All information and all details with beautiful illustrations were uploaded on the internet, on the local municipality’s homepage. So everyone who is interested in that tour can easily check that trail info.

Also, there are good facilities, maps, and navigation signs throughout the whole trail.

Seongneucheon Stream Road Course (성내천길)

The length is 6km and it takes 1,30 hours to finish. Despite it is not the longest course, it was the longest course for us because, in the beginning, we went in the wrong direction. That course crosses a pretty quiet area. But the thing I remember is a beautiful cherry street. I swear it is an amazing walking spot during the cherry blossom season. Also, there is a small river too. So we saw ducks, fishes, stork…

Lanterns with wishes

Installation on the entrance to the park

Jangjicheon Stream Road Course (장지천길)

4,4 km and 1 hour and 10 mins. A part of that trail goes behind the apartments. And it is like a small park zone with trees and benches. That course was one of my favourites. There were nice cultural installations, leisure zones, exhibitions, and even farmers who had their fields along the course and were selling their goods right there.

A Photo zone

A small stream on the course

Tancheon Stream Road Course (탄천길)

It is the longest course about 7.4 km, so you need around 2 hours to walk it. When we were discovering that course we decided to pass by the local market. Local markets are always nice places. People sell vegetables and fruits, they cook there. Also, you can find clothes, some home appliances, etc.

Hangang River Course (한강길)

There is a big river Han in Seoul that divides Seoul into 2 parts. And a part of that river flows in our area. People are fishing, walking, riding bicycles, and just enjoying a beautiful view here. Hangan Trail is the shortest one, it is about 3,2 km. And according to the trail guide map, it should take about 50 mins to walk that part of the trail.

A dating square in the Hangang River Park

Stamp Tour

Stamp Desk

Another awesome thing about that new walking trail is that the local municipality created a stamp tour. So in each part of the trail, you can find stamps which you need to make on the special book. The book is free and stamps are also free. So in total, you need to collect 4 stamps. Then you need to take a photo of your stamp book, and send them to the related office by email. Also, there are some quest photos that you need to take during the walk and send with stamp book photos.

Stamp

After that, you can get a small souvenir from the Local municipality. I still couldn’t send my photos…

My trip

On the first day, I walked Seongneucheon Stream Road Course and Jangjicheon Stream Road Course. It took me about 7-8 hours. I went with my friends. And we were so excited about exploring new are so we forgot about lunch, water… And in the evening by the end of the 2nd walking course, we realized how tired we are and how hungry we are. We went in the home direction and were searching for a good cafe. We were lucky enough to discover a cafe with crispy cutlets.

On the second day, we started with a Hangang River course. That day was harder… First of all, because we were still tired after the first walking day. Secondly, because the weather was hotter and it was wetter. Also, the last 2 courses were partially under construction. So there was not much to see.

But overall, I enjoyed that walking tour. I am not sure that I will repeat that journey in the nearest future, but mainly because I have a lot of other places I want to visit.

I have a lot of photos from that walking tour so I decided to make a short video. Hope you will like it.