A carpet of silver grass crowns the Baekdudaegan ridge this autumn, turning Mindungsan in Jeongseon-gun into a sweeping spectacle.
On Sunday, travelers from across the country flocked to the mountain to take in the rolling waves of silver grass high above the East Sea.
Autumn deepens on Mindungsan alongside two natural landmarks: the doline — a crater-like depression that serves as Gangwon Province's answer to Hallasan's Baengnokdam — and the vast silver grass fields spreading across the summit.
The grass shifts through shades of silver depending on the angle of sunlight and the direction of the wind, while the doline mirrors the surrounding ridgelines and sky, creating a landscape found nowhere else on the mountain.
Even at the same spot, the color of the grass and the mood of the mountain change with the hour, making a slow walk through the scenery a complete escape from everyday life.
Timed to the season, Jeongseon-gun is holding the 52-day Mindungsan Silver Grass Festival, running through Nov. 8.
Throughout the festival, visitors at the summit can send mountaintop postcards and view a photo exhibition, while a range of hands-on programs — a singing contest, calligraphy, preserved silver grass crafts and face painting — run on a regular basis.
Busking performances are scheduled on public holidays, and Arirang shows featuring the essence of Jeongseon Arirang will be staged during the festival.
A pop music competition runs Oct. 9 and 10, and a food market selling traditional local dishes, regional specialties and nostalgic street food will operate on the festival grounds throughout.
On the final day, Nov. 8, a closing ceremony will be followed by a moonfire burning ritual in which visitors make wishes to mark the end of the festival.
Mindungsan is also easily reached by rail via the Jeongseon Arirang Train, which departs Jecheon Station at 9:02 a.m., stops at Mindungsan Station and continues to Auraji. The train runs one round trip per day on weekends and on the 2nd and 7th of each month, which are Jeongseon market days.
Pairing a Mindungsan trip with other nearby attractions — the Gariwangsan cable car, Jeongseon Five-Day Market, Hwaam Cave and the rail bike course — adds further depth to an autumn outing.
Sampling local cuisine at the many restaurants in the Nammyeon area is another draw. The Nammyeon area near Kangwon Land, along with the Gohan and Sabuk districts, offers a wide range of accommodation, making it easy to extend a visit to several days and explore Jeongseon-gun at a leisurely pace.
Jeongseon-gun is working to establish Mindungsan as a distinctive destination through a place-branding initiative that reinterprets the mountain's natural features — its silver grass plains, doline, red soil and ridgelines — as design assets, incorporating them into signage, spaces and content to build a unique identity for the site.
Nam Jin-gwon, chairman of the Mindungsan Silver Grass Festival organizing committee, said the mountain has established itself as a nationally recognized autumn destination drawing 300,000 visitors a year, and that this year's festival has been prepared with a full lineup of programs so tourists can fully enjoy the silver grass scenery and the mountain's distinctive natural landscape. "This autumn, come to Mindungsan with family, a loved one or friends — walk the ridgeline paths blanketed in silver grass, and take in the doline and the surrounding peaks from the summit for a relaxed taste of Jeongseon in fall," he said.
The opening ceremony was held Friday at the Mindungsan Sports Field in Nammyeon, drawing about 500 attendees including Jeongseon-gun Mayor Choi Seung-jun, Jeongseon-gun Council Speaker Bae Wang-seop, festival committee chairman Nam Jin-gwon, heads of local institutions and civic organizations, and residents and tourists. A fireworks display followed the ceremony to mark the start of the festival.
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