Pocheon: What To See & What To Do Northeast Of Seoul

Pocheon is an area that sits to the northeast of Seoul in the Gyeonggi province. Last summer, I headed northeast to visit the beautiful flowery fields of Nari Park which is just south of the Pocheon area. It was an invitation to explore more in that region this year.

Here are some places in Pocheon that are must sees and for those K-drama addicted among us, quite a few recognizable dramas have been filmed in these places, so enjoy! Want a day trip option from Seoul? This is a great area to explore with numerous nature spots and artistic finds too. I’ve got you covered if you’re looking for places to go north of Seoul.

Here are some of the best things to do in Pocheon. Feel free to skip around:

• Where To Stay In Pocheon
• What To Do In Pocheon
  • Pocheon Art Valley (포천아트밸리)
  • Peace Land Korea (PyungGang Land) (평강랜드)
  • Hantangang Sky Bridge (한탄강하늘다리)
  • Sansawon Museum & Bae Sang Myeon Brewery (전통술박물관 산사원 & 배상면주가)

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Where To Stay In Pocheon

Make a weekend of it and stay in Pocheon. It’s close enough to Seoul that you can definitely go for a day trip, but it’s also just enough out that it’d be a fun and easy to get to spot for a weekend away with family, your best friends, or just a solo trip outside of Seoul. Here are the places to check out.

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What To Do In Pocheon

Pocheon Art Valley (포천아트밸리)

Pocheon Art Valley is a quarry that has been transformed into a culture and arts space. The quarry features a lake surrounded by oddly shaped rocks. This quarry was the first environment restoration project in the Pocheon area. K-drama fans will likely recognize the grandiose quarry backdrop from dramas such as The Legend of the Blue Sea  (푸른 바다의 전설) and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (달의 연인 – 보보경심 려). While the dramas depicted people in the lake, boating or swimming, technically people are not allowed to enter the water here, just so you know.

When you first arrive, grab tickets for entrance and I recommend getting the one way ride up on the monorail. The walk up is a bit steep so if you have kids the monorail is the way to go or if you want to just enjoy a more leisurely trip up, again, this is the go to. It really only takes a couple minutes though so it’s not a walk that will have you sweating it out or anything.

If there’s a long line for the monorail, then just huff and puff it up… it’ll do the body good. The walk back down isn’t that bad though so no need to get the round trip ticket in any case. The monorail drops you right at the rock quarry turned Cheonjoho Lake (천주호). The lake was formed when spring water and rain water filled the pit while quarrying for granite. You could stop by now, but if you’re like me and like to efficiently see things and not backtrack, I recommend walking up to top of the hill to visit the FREE space museum first.

The Pocheon Art Valley Astronomical Science Museum isn’t huge but is a great stop if you have kids with you. If you don’t, you’ll probably just enjoy a quick walk through here to the top to where the Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory are. From here, walk down and you’ll come to the lake and after taking in the beauty, pass the monorail stop and you’ll come to steps that lead up to the left. Take them and you’ll be afforded with a great view of the valleys in the surrounding area. There is seating at the top for a little rest and then there is a walkway down the backside that leads to a cafe and the sculpture park on the grounds.

We found the sculpture park a bit odd and features some of those pieces of art here that showcase just a bit too much of human anatomy, but there is green space to take a rest here too. Get coffees and snacks from the cafe and enjoy a rest or take some snacks of your own to enjoy while there. In all honesty, I wouldn’t suggest that anyone go out to Pocheon Art Valley if that’s all you want to see.

There isn’t a TON to see and wouldn’t take more than two hours to walk around. It’s a great stop off with other things in the area though. It’s also NOT the easiest to get to via public transportation and without a car. I’d recommend joining a tour group to head out to Pocheon because the things that are out there just aren’t easy to get to via bus from place to place.

Join the Klook tour to the area and you can also do strawberry picking and see Herb Island the same day. If you do have a car, head here in the morning, on the way out choose a restaurant along the street just after you come out to eat lunch and head to the next spot. We found a great duck restaurant when we drove through and then continued our trip to the next place.

• Address: 234 Artvalley-ro, Sinbuk-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do (경기도 포천시 신북면 아트밸리로 234)
• How To Get There: From Seoul Express Bus Terminal, take a bus to Pocheon Bus Terminal. From the terminal, walk to the main road and go right to bus stop #40270 and take bus 73. Ride the bus about 25 minutes, 9 stops to
• Hours: Tuesday – Sunday: 9:00am ~ 10:00pm; Monday: 9:00am ~ 7:00pm
• Admission: Adults: W5,000; Children: W3,000
• Website: Pocheon Art Valley Website

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Peace Land Korea (PyungGang Land) (평강랜드)

This botanical garden sits at the entrance to Sanjeong Lake and is just gorgeous. It would NOT be super easy to get to if you don’t have your own car or don’t rent one though. Do keep that in mind. There are paths that connect the various parts and based on the names, in the spring and summer, I imagine there are just gorgeous flowers that bloom here.

As it was autumn when we visited, we were able to see the foliage, pink muhly and other autumn blooms but the most fun for us was finding the various Thomas Dambo installations that are hidden in the forests of the park. If you are an art enthusiast, you’ll enjoy these. If you have children with you, this is a fun hide-and-seek way to see the park. If you just want to live one of those childhood fantasies of finding elves that are hidden at the bottoms of mountains between the trees, then you’ll really love this.

Thomas Dambo is a Danish artist that created “The Forgotten Giants” that are hiding in the various gardens around the park. There are five giants that have been made from scrap wood in an effort to only use trash and recycled materials in his works. The sculptures add this very whimsical presence to the natural surroundings. The artist’s work can be seen around the world and to find five of his installations in one spot is really fun and of course posing with them is fun too. The park has a little game as well. If you get your brochure stamped at each giant location, you’ll get a little gift on your way out.

If you like heading to parks to find whimsical art installations, also look into visiting the Yeonmisan Art Park and the Anyang Art Park.

The park has twelve themed areas with various flower gardens, rock gardens, moss and wetlands and fields of even more. It’s a pretty substantial area and was my favorite stop of the day. The park has been designated as a habitat for preservation and houses various native and non-native plants. This park seems like it’d be beautiful from late spring into the autumn for sure.

• Address: 171-18 Umulmok-gil Yeongbok-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do (경기도 포천시 영북면 우물목길 171-18)
• Hours: Every day 9:00am ~ 6:00pm
• Admission: Adults: W7,000, Children: W5,000
• Website: www.peacelandkorea.com

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Hantangang Sky Bridge (한탄강하늘다리)

The 200 meter long Hantangang Sky Bridge was just opened in May of this year (2018). To us it seemed a bit of an awkwardly placed bridge to be honest because it doesn’t connect much…? Let me explain. There isn’t much in the area aside from the Bidulginang Waterfalls (비둘기낭폭포) and what seems to be a newly built campground. I wondered if the campgrounds were built just after the sky bridge. The area around the sky bridge was still experiencing some construction and so it seems like maybe this sky bridge is supposed to be the precursor to more in the area. As it stands right now, it’s a beautifully stunning bridge… in the middle of nowhere.

The bridge is very easy to access. You can park right next to it, cross it and cross back without breaking a sweat. Which is probably what Lee Young-Joon (Park Seo-Joon) and Kim Mi-so who have a heart-to-heart talk on this bridge as the sun sets in What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim (김비서가 왜 그럴까) did when they acted here. We thought there had to be more.. or it was leading to something, otherwise, why the bridge? So, we continued up along a hiking path to see what it came to.

The path wasn’t long and went up and then steeply down and came to yet another bridge. The second bridge is called Pigeon Bridge and is topped with the birds that we couldn’t find anywhere in the area. From here, we assumed the path would circle around to Pigeon Waterfall… but we were wrong and had to hike back UP the very STEEP path. Literally some of the steps were the length of my foot up to my knee. Too tall for some small kids that is for sure. It wasn’t long and doesn’t take more than 10 minutes to get back up, but if the first bridge is enough for you, don’t even worry about finding the second.

The waterfalls which were where the first kiss between Ji Hae-soo (Gong Hyo-jin) and Jang Jae-yeol (Zo In-sung) takes place in It’s Ok, This is Love (괜찮아, 사랑이야) were nearby and so we visited it too. You can’t actually get all the way down to the falls like you can at the Jaein waterfall also north of Seoul.

• Address: 207 Bidulginang-gil, Yeongbuk-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (경기도 포천시 영북면 비둘기낭길 207)

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Sansawon Museum & Bae Sang Myeon Brewery (전통술박물관 산사원 & 배상면주가)

The Sansawon Museum and Bae Sang Myeon Brewery is a really interesting spot to learn about traditional brewing techniques in Korea. The grounds are beautiful and the highlight is most definitely being able to try a plethora of different Korean liquors and makgeolli and all of it for just an entrance fee of W3,000.

Inside the museum, which is the closest to the parking lot and so usually the first stop for visitors, there is a floor which looks like any other standard museum. Learn what you can from the over 1,000 documents, relics, and historic brewing devices and then head downstairs for what is definitely the highlight of the space. The brewery makes some very good liquors and makgeollis and it is here that you can try try try and then purchase what you like at super reasonable prices. It’s really a unique experience and the alcohol is really good.

After visiting the museum, you can head out to what is definitely more of the photo-friendly spot. The brewery which was established in 1996 features tons of gigantic onggi pots that contain the small batch liquors. They create a maze to wind through and as you do you’ll find various old machines used for brewing. The maze drops visitors off in a garden that is surrounded with Hanok buildings and pavilions which are the perfect places to take a rest and just enjoy the view with beautiful mountains in the background and Hanok roofs in the foreground. It’s a great experience to have and a must visit in Pocheon.

• Address: 25 Hwadong-ro 432beon-gil, Hwahyeon-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do (경기도 포천시 화현면 화동로432번길 25 배상면주가)
• Hours: 8:30am ~ 5:30pm
• Admission: W3,000
• Website: www.soolsool.co.kr

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