Some trips don’t need to go far. Just step into the forest, soften your steps, and listen to the sound of the wind shaking the branches—those moments alone are enough to become truly deep rest. The Jwagusan Natural Recreation Forest in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province, is exactly that kind of place.
Ever since ancient times, this mountain has been called Jwagusan (坐龜山), said to resemble “a turtle sitting as a symbol of happiness and long life.” Like its name suggests, it holds people gently and steadily. Located on the foothills of the Hanam-Geum-North Chungcheong Ridge, this is where you can set down your rush and meet nature at your own pace.
Wellness Tourism Destination for Four Straight Years — The Competitive Edge of Forests and Meditation
In 2026, the Korea Tourism Organization once again included the Jwagusan Natural Recreation Forest in its “88 Selected Outstanding Wellness Tourism Destinations.” This marks four consecutive selections since its first designation in 2021. The evaluation areas are divided into six categories: food, stay, beauty & spa, natural healing, healing & meditation, and Korean medicine. Jwagusan has consistently kept its place in the “healing & meditation” category each year. It’s not just about beautiful scenery—it reflects the depth of programs that have been steadily accumulated and recognized.
The House of Forest Meditation — Quiet You Can Find 300 Meters Up the Mountainside
The heart of Jwagusan’s healing is the Forest Meditation House on the 300-meter-high area above sea level. Inside the three-story building, built right where the abundant phytoncides released by the lush forest gather, there are spaces prepared step by step for caring for both your body and mind.
On the first floor, the Water Healing Room offers a flower-tea foot bath experience where you can soak your feet in warm water infused with herbs while looking out over the mountain landscape, along with a Hute-therapy room equipped with massage chairs. On the second floor, in the flower-tea room, you can drink tea and enjoy jeonggwa (preserved fruit) made by hand using seasonal ingredients. Under the tea table, there’s a foot-soaking device, so you can enjoy a cup of tea and soak your feet at the same time. The third floor is a meditation space—where you can face the quiet voice inside you while watching the forest “dance” along with the wind.
The meditation methods practiced here since 2017 aren’t grand or complicated. The philosophy is that fully enjoying the forest itself is meditation.
Six Themed Forest Trails — Healing Comes Just From Walking
Six themed forest trails are available, including Binari-gil, the Wind Sound Trail, and the Maple Tree Trail, so everyone—from children to adults—can walk the forest at their own pace. The birch-themed trail is divided into three courses: 30 minutes, 70 minutes, and 90 minutes, making it easy to choose without pressure. In particular, the maple-tree path made with a wooden deck greets visitors with a different face in each season.
Along with various forest healing programs—forest walking meditation, yoga in the woods, bamboo shoot massage, and tea aroma meditation—spring at Jwagusan is especially beautiful, with cornelian cherry, magnolia, cherry blossoms, and wildflowers blooming one after another. Starting March 26, the “Mind-Relief Program,” which combines forest-walking and flower-tea experiences, foot soaking, and crafts, will also be offered.
A Night When Stars Fall Like Rain — Another Kind of Healing
It’s not only the forest during the daytime. In the Jwagusan area, landscape lighting has been installed along Byeolcheongji Park and the Samgi Reservoir, so at night you can take a stroll amid a calm night view. At the Jwagusan Astronomical Observatory, where Korea’s largest 356mm refracting telescope is installed, you can vividly observe stars and planets in the night sky. Staying overnight here is meaningful enough, because the forest by day and the stars by night both belong to this place.
What’s Next for Jwagusan — A Deeper Healing Retreat
Jeungpyeong County is promoting projects to build a wooden-structure complex facility that uses domestically sourced timber, as well as restoring a birch-tree ecological forest, following the creation of forest treehouses. The plan is to develop Jwagusan into a mountain where you can stay and rest, and a destination for stay-type healing tourism.
If you’re worn out, you don’t have to travel far. Step into this quiet mountain in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province. The forest is always waiting.
📍 Guide to the Jwagusan Natural Recreation Forest
Address: 107 Sotjeommal-gil, Jeungpyeong-eup, Jeungpyeong-gun, North Chungcheong Province
Phone: 043-835-4551
Operating Hours: 09:00–17:30 (Closed every Monday; reservation required when using programs)
Website: www.foresttrip.go.kr