The Gimnyeong Craft Metal Mural Village: The Olle-gil Route Where Art & Nature Collide

If you’ve visited Jeju Island in South Korea, you’ve likely come across information regarding the Jeju Olle-gil or Jeju Walking Trail, a path that circles the entire island as well as a number of islands that you can get to easily from Jeju. This walking trail offers a beautiful way to see the coastline of the island, enjoy the beaches, and for many, it becomes a goal to complete the entire thing. If you do, you’ll come to realize that not all parts of the trail are the same. In fact, they each have their own tale to weave really.

One such path that has quite an interesting story to tell is course 20 of the Jeju Olle-gil. Walk along this path and at the beginning, you’re simultaneously walking through the Gimnyeong Craft Metal Mural Village (김녕금속공예벽화마을).

Gimnyeong Craft Metal Mural Village (김녕금속공예벽화마을), Jeju Island, Korea

I won’t give it all away, but here’s where to start, what to look for, and where to end when you want to see the Gimnyeong Craft Metal Mural Village:

(This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a certain percentage of a sale if you purchase after clicking at no cost to you. Thank you for your support.)

Where To Start

Gimnyeong Seopo-gu Stamp Spot (김녕서포구 스탬프찍는곳): Here is where you can take in the coast and the lava rocks first, get a stamp if you’re collecting them for the entire Olle-gil course and start your meander through the town.

Address: 4070 Gimnyeong-ri, Gujwa-eub, Jeju-si, Jeju (제주 제주시 구좌읍 김녕리 4070)

Walking Along Sea and Surf

Starting from Gimnyeong, the starting point of Jeju Olle Course 20, there are a number of artistic surprises that make the area a bit more intriguing than you might realize. While I think every Jeju Olle Course is beautiful in its own way, and mostly in a natural beauty way, here artistic metalworks and installations make for a whimsical walk.

When you first arrive, take the time to enjoy the lava rock seashore where sea creatures hide and the water is calm. It’s a really serene area. If you have kids, they’ll slowly notice that in all of the little pools of water are creatures just as black as the lava rocks hiding in plain sight.

For about a distance of three kilometers to the beautiful Gimnyeong Beach, the ‘Dasibang Project’ features the artwork by ten artists. Using discarded metal products and Jeju basalt, each building has a different sculpture themed on the life of Jeju haenyeo, or the women divers of Jeju, allowing you to see various works as you walk along the road.

You can see a total of 29 works as you walk. If you’re looking to complete each leg of the Jeju Olle Path or just want to take a nice evening stroll with your kids, this is a great area to enjoy. I especially love paths like this where it’s like a scavenger hunt style adventure.

Our eyes move from building to building and my daughter runs ahead when she spots an installation. If that’s your kind of fun, then you’ll love this course. I find it’s a good motivator for kids to keep them moving along.

It’s important to remember that Gimnyeong residents live in the village so you should be careful not to make too much noise or enter houses without permission. All of the works are on the walls that hug the homes. Look from the road, but do not go in to anyone’s private space.

As you walk and are on the search for metalworks, don’t lose sight of the coast and the rocks that jut out into the surf. There’s one popular site that you can walk out onto that features a natural spring.

There are a number of places on Jeju where you can spot these circles of rocks and this is where spring water comes out. The spring water is quite cold, so on a very hot day, look for these if you want to cool off. It’s become a popular photos spot as you can walk out onto the water when it rises in the evening.

Where To End

Gimnyeong Beach (김녕해수욕장): If you are completing the Jeju Olle-gil 20 course, you’ll want to continue on. But if you’re just looking for an artistic adventure in Jeju, then you can stop along this beautiful beachy section.