Umyon-san

Overall difficulty level: 5/10

Skill: 5/10 (depending on route)

Aerobic: 6/10 (depending on route)

Scenic: 3/10

Crowdedness: 2/10 (3/10 on Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday)

This is the most popular ride in Seoul, and is probably the only course that is 100% rideable. If you're staying in Itaewon or in the immediate Kangnam area, this is the most easily accessed trail network. It's also fairly easily negotiated, with some notable exceptions. It's mostly undulating singletrack, with few rocks and none of the dramatic granite outcroppings featured in almost all of the other rides in the Seoul area. This is a good thing: few hikers come here, even on Sundays, so you'll have it basically to yourself no matter what time of the day or week. There are about 20km of trails in the network, although it'll be next to impossible to find a coursing that includes all of these trails without a guide who knows the hidden trailheads and connectors (through backyards, farms, offtrail, etc.). In general, each separate trail is one or two km up, then one or two down. You can link up almost any number of trails to create an MC Escher-type knotted course to suit your needs.

Access: Umyon-san is in central-southern Seoul, between Seoul and the satellite city of Kwachon. The most direct way to get there is to first get to Yangjae subway station the best way you can, which is probably by bike (a 25 minute ride from Itaewon). In any case, you'll need your map. From here, you'll commute about 2km off-road and 1km on-road to get to the actual trailhead: a 2 km dirt road uphill leading to a military base on top of Umyon mountain.

Suggested coursing: Stay with me here, because there are lots of easily-missed turns. I like to start at Yangjae station. Head south on the 10-lane road, toward Kwachon city (past Yangjae station). Just past McDonald's, about 100m from the Yangjae station entrance look carefully on your right. You're looking for a little driveway that dead-ends in a forested knoll. If there's a small trash dump around the corner and some stairs next to it, you're at the right place. Go up the steps (8 or so) and you should be on a ridge singletrack. Ride along this, staying on the ridge. It will undulate for a short spell. After about 800m you'll pass an exercise area, followed by a grave bordering the trail on your right (Korean graves look like a breast-shaped mound with a surrounding dirt wall). Take the next singletrack on your left, which should be 30m or so later. This should be headed slightly downhill. Then, after a few meters make your next right. At the bottom of this track, after 50m or so, you'll be at a four-way intersection of paths; continue straight, uphill. Continue along this until you hit a major road. Turn right onto the road and pedal until it ends in a T-intersection, where you'll turn right. Make your first left into an apartment's driveway, but instead of actually entering the apartment, continue up the driveway to the next traihead. Continue uphill on the trail, where you'll very soon come to a series of steps where you can ride up the side. At the top there is a 4-way intersection. Turn left, up a short, steep pitch, and continue along this ridge until you hit a paved road or another major street. In either case, turn right onto the major street and ride for about 1km. Look a minor paved road on your right which starts heading uphill, in between a woods and greenhouses. If you've arrived at metal barricades and a guard shack on the major street, you've gone much too far. This minor paved road will magically transform itself into a dirt road after 400m or so; you might have to search for this dirt road a bit.

Whew! Now I can describe the trail network for you. There is a singletrack that parallels this dirt road. Also, about halfway up there is a 4-way intersection a few meters off to the left of the dirt road. The trail going downhill splits in two around the bend and after about 1km both trails spill out on or near the major road you just left. Follow your nose, it always knows. Almost at the top of the dirt road will be a short, sharp track on your left up into woods. Take this all the way to the true top, which some people consider to be a lookout. From here there is a trail straight ahead that immediately goes straight down steeply. It can be somewhat difficult or exceedingly difficult, depending on the time of year. Alternately, you can turn left from the lookout and follow this second trail down the other side of the cliff, which is what it wil become just beyond your sight. It is rideable despite appearances, but requires some nerve, skill, and a very low saddle. It connects with the 4-way intersection you passed coming up the dirt road. Anyway, back to the straight-ahead, straight down trail: this is the Main Ridge Trail. Every mountain in Korea has one. You can follow this one all the way to the bottom, come back up, and go down the other trails you just passed. Don't worry about the steep section in the beginning; it's only 100m or so. After that, it's smooth sailing. There are other trails as well which, when linked up, make for a nice long course, but they're secret and too difficult to explain here. About 16km/90 minutes.

At the bottom of the ridge trail, you're in Kwachon city, and fairly far from Yangjae station. You could do the whole thing in reverse, but the best way to get back to Seoul is to follow your nose downhill and out of the park area to the major road, turn right onto it and ride up less than a kilometer to a huge intersection, with another major road going uphill on your right. This road is the one you want to take; it leads to the border between Seoul and Kwachon, a minor pass called Namtaeryong which everyone knows (in case you get lost). From Namtaeryong, descend the major road to wherever in Seoul you want to go. To get to the Han River, just go straight for 20 minutes or so. Secret: at the top of Namtaeryong is a traffic light with a pedestrian cross button that actually works. Hit this button as you pass, and all the cars and buses and frontloaders and tanks and big rigs will stop at the top, giving you 4 lanes to yourself to descend on without worry of getting splattered at 70 kph.

Additional notes:

--Steve Danyo