Mount Gwanak becomes Seoul's new viral spring hiking spot

Hikers enjoy views from the summit of Mount Gwanak in Seoul, in this undated file photo. gettyimagesbank

Mount Gwanak, a granite peak that forms the southern ridgeline of Seoul, has quietly watched over the city for centuries. This spring, it is transforming into something else entirely: a viral “energy hotspot” where hikers line up for over an hour at the summit marker, hoping to soak up good fortune along with the skyline views.

On recent weekends, the narrow path to Yeonjudae, the clifftop hermitage near the 632-meter summit, has turned into a human queue that can stretch more than 100 meters. Many in their 20s and 30s say they are not just there for the workout.

Posing for “proof shots,” visitors post captions that read like whispered prayers: “Let this year go well,” “Please let me get a job,” “Let me come back here with good news.”

Instagram posts show hikers flocking to the summit of Mount Gwanak in Seoul. Screenshot from Instagram

Among them are Lee and Park, Seoul residents who climbed Mount Gwanak with their friends recently.

“In the past I would have gone to a fortune teller, but now I’d rather hike, clear my head and ask the mountain for help,” said Lee, a 31-year-old job seeker who wrote her employment wish in the caption of a summit selfie she posted over the weekend.

Park, a 24-year-old university student based in Seoul, visited the mountain peak last month before a job interview after seeing videos on Instagram. “It feels a bit like playing along with a trend, but when you finally stand up here and make a wish, it’s strangely comforting,” he said.

The Gwanak frenzy traces back to a January episode of tvN’s popular talk show “You Quiz on the Block,” in which a veteran fortune teller recommended the mountain as a place to “reset” luck, citing its strong fire energy in pungsu-jiri, a Korean geomantic concept equivalent to feng shui.

Since the episode aired, Google searches on Mount Gwanak have increased steadily, briefly hitting the maximum score of 100 on Google Trends and marking its highest level in at least five years.

A veteran fortune teller recommends hiking Mount Gwanak during tvN talk show "You Quiz on the Block" in this screenshot. Courtesy of tvN

Within days, short-form videos tagged with “Mount Gwanak” and “energy” flooded TikTok and Instagram, while portal search data showed queries for the mountain spiking to record highs. What was once an ordinary weekend hike for older generations suddenly became a trending ritual for young people.

The trend shows how younger Koreans are reinterpreting shamanistic ideas and shifting traditions from full-scale rituals to casual, everyday experiences through the lens of digital culture.

Korean folk belief has long held that certain mountain peaks hold potent “gi,” or vital energy, and that mountains are home to mountain spirits that can protect families, grant safe passage or turn luck around according to Korean folk belief.

Yeonjudae, a historic Buddhist hermitage, sits dramatically perched on a rugged cliff at the summit of Mount Gwanak in Seoul, Feb. 23. Courtesy of Seoul Tourism Organization

Today’s visitors are less likely to visit a traditional fortune teller or commission a costly shamanic ritual. Instead, they ride the subway and treat a half-day hike as a low-pressure way to “tap into” that same invisible power, often followed by a stop for food after the climb.

Mount Gwanak’s geography also helps. The mountain rises sharply from the city’s southwest, its fire-shaped ridges visible from all over central Seoul and from royal sites that once tried to tame its energy with guardian statues. Trails of varying difficulty, including a shorter route from Seoul National University and a longer ridge walk from Gwanaksan Station on the newly opened Sillim Line, allow even novice hikers to reach the summit in a few hours.

Instead of solemn devotion, the mood on the summit is light and chatty, with friends trading jokes comparing the atmosphere to “Dubai chewy cookie queues” while still quietly making wishes for exams, jobs or safe military service.