Ilwol Mountain Native Flower Park | Attraction Guide

Ilwol Mountain Native Flower Park is located on the slopes of Ilwol Mountain, the highest peak in Yeongyang-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and is decorated with native Korean flowers that grow on Ilwol Mountain and its surroundings. It opened on July 16, 2004, and covers an area of 180,099㎡. There are 64 types and 113,000 wildflowers planted such as haneul maebaltop, halmi flower, ssukbujeongi, dongja flower, and chung flower. An artificial pond and waterways of about 330㎡ contain 11 types and 6,000 plants of aquatic and waterside plants including lotus, water lilies, and yellow iris. The park is landscaped by planting 11,000 local tree species such as pine, zelkova, and arrowwood around it. Additionally, there are convenience facilities like an observation deck, pavilion, and a parking lot of 1,742㎡. The park also features sculptures including a monument to the Cheongnokka poet Jo Ji-hoon, who is from Yeongyang-gun, as well as jangseung and sotdae. The park site was formerly the location of a smelter and ore processing yard built by the Japanese during the colonial period for mineral extraction. From 1939, the Japanese transported ore mined from Ilwol Mountain across from the current park to this place to sort and smelt valuable minerals such as gold, silver, copper, and zinc. At that time, the smelter employed about 500 workers and 1,200 local residents lived nearby; electricity was supplied from then on. Although the mine continued operating after liberation, it closed in 1976 due to declining profitability. The area suffered severe soil pollution from chemical toxic substances and waste ore used in the smelting process, preventing even grass growth, and contaminated leachate left the streams lifeless for 30 years. In 2001, Yeongyang-gun invested 3.2 billion won to completely seal and landfill the pollutants and designated the site as a park, then invested 800 million won in 2004 to establish the park. Remnants of the ore processing yard still remain behind the park.