Bangjangsan | Mountain Guide | K-Travel Mate

[A Watchtower of the Honam Jeongmaek Standing Tall on the Gochang Plain] Traveling south on the Honam Expressway, the road enters the mountains as the Honam Plain ends. On the left, the farming rock at the summit of Ipamsan is impressively reminiscent of a literati painting, while on the right, a grand mountain resembling a cloth curtain rises—that is Bangjangsan. Rising abruptly from the flat land, its ridges are simple and fluid as if drawn with a single brushstroke. The view is excellent, vividly showing Gochang town, the surrounding plains, and even the local landmark Moyangseong like a picture map. Although its name means 'elder of a temple,' it has no relation to temples. In the Baekje period, it was called Bangdeungsan, which seems to have changed through sound shifts to Bangjeongsan and vowel assimilation to Bangjangsan. The original 'Mo Bang' likely referred to 'Modeung,' as Gochang's old name was Moyangburi, meaning 'Modeung of Moyang.' The southwestern peak, Byeokobong, is mistakenly called Bangmongsan. The 1:50,000 maps by the National Geographic Institute show the boundary between Gochang and Damyang passing between the two peaks. The Damyang map correctly names the peak, but the old Gochang map mistakenly inserted the character for 'literary script' similar to 'elderly leader,' causing the error. Many people unaware of this mistake call it Bangmongsan. This is similar to the case of Buan's Uisangbong, where the character 'Ui' was misread, leading to the highest peak being called Gisangbong for a long time.