Chilseon Mountain Lodge Restaurant | Restaurant Guide

Chuseong Mountain Village Ecological Village is a village embracing Jirisan Cheonwangbong Peak and Chilseon Valley, one of Korea's three great valleys. For this reason, Chuseong Mountain Village serves as a base camp for those climbing Jirisan Cheonwangbong Peak. The hiking trail from Chuseong Village to Cheonwangbong follows Chilseon Valley, featuring many waterfalls and pools such as So, Seonnyeotang, Biseondam, Chilseon Falls, Daeryuk Falls, and Mapok Falls, forming a magnificent spectacle. The Chuseong Mountain Village Ecological Experience Center is located right at the entrance of Chuseong Village, just above the public parking lot. The Experience Center includes a café, an experience hall, a specialty product shop, and also offers lodging facilities.

Seoam Jeongsa, located at the entrance of Chilseon Valley, one of Korea's three great valleys known for its beauty and grandeur, is a temple harmoniously integrated with natural rock formations. It was built by Monk Won-eung, who reconstructed Byeoksongsa Temple devastated during the Korean War, and over more than ten years completed a carved hall depicting countless Buddha statues and the ideal Buddhist paradise of the Pure Land on natural rock, set against the majestic mountain scenery of Jirisan. At the temple entrance stands Daebang-gwangmun, symbolizing entry into the Buddhist truth. Passing the carved Four Heavenly Kings on rocks and entering the courtyard, the main Buddha Amitabha presides in the stone grotto hall representing the Pure Land. On the upper side of the courtyard are Gwangmyeongundae, where countless Buddhas reside, and Saja Cave, a meditation place for monks.

Byeoksongsa Temple is a subsidiary temple of Haeinsa Temple, the 12th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. The exact date of its founding is unknown, but based on a three-story stone pagoda behind the temple believed to have been built at the time of its establishment, the period is estimated to be late Silla or early Goryeo. It is said that in 1520, the Great Monk Byeoksong Jieom rebuilt the temple and named it Byeoksongsa. Before Seosan Dae Sa Cheongheo Hujeong, monks such as Byeokgye Jeongsim, Byeoksong Jieom, Buyong Yeonggwan, Hwanseong Jian, and Seoryong Sangmin—eight great Zen masters who illuminated the Joseon Zen tradition—all practiced asceticism at Byeoksongsa, signifying a special connection between Korean Seon Buddhism and the temple. The temple was destroyed by fire in 1704, the 30th year of King Sukjong's reign, and later rebuilt by the Great Monk Hwanseong Jian. It was restored again in 1850 by Seoryongdang Sangmin but was destroyed during the Korean War in 1950. In 1960, Monk Won-eung Gu-han reconstructed the fallen temple buildings, which have remained until today.

Passing through Uitang Village and crossing a mountain pass, you will find Uijung Village where low houses and simple alleys stretch here and there. In May, you can see the harvesting of raw lacquer sap at workshops continuing the traditional lacquer craftsmanship in this village surrounded by green lacquer trees. Piercing the lacquer tree to collect sap is called saengchil, and cutting and roasting the lacquer tree to extract sap is called hwachil. In times when medicine was rare, the area around this village was said to have gold underground and lacquer above ground, and the sap collected through hwachil was consumed as a health tonic.