Parks and the outdoors in Daejeon

21 parks, gardens, beaches and walks in and around Daejeon.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

See
Daecheong Dam
Large dam on the far north east outskirts of town. Responsible for the Daecheonghosu lake, South Korea's largest.
See
Daecheong Lake
대청호수
Information office is at 618-316, Daecheong-ro, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon Metropolitan City (left bank of Daecheong Dam). The lake was formed in 1980 when the Deacheon Dam was completed. This lake provides Deajeon City and Cheongju City with drinking water. Open year round. No parking facilities.
Tue-SunFree
Do
Daedong Sky Park
대동하늘공원
It consists of Daedong Mural Village, Daedong Street Art Museum, Baegolsan Love Rock, Daedong Haneul Park Windmill, and Haneul Park Cafe.
See
Daejeon Citizen
대전하나시티즌
The city's K-league soccer team. Daejeon, being a co-host of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, has a soccer stadium in Yuseong-gu on the north side of town (월드컵경기장 World cup kyeonggijang), quite literally and unbelievably plonked in the middle of a farm and now rather rusty in appearance. It's serviced by a dedicated subway station (listen for the old Korean World Cup theme song announcing the stop), although you'd have to walk through the Nouen Wholesale Market and adjacent Wholesale Fish Market to get there.
₩10,000 and under from the team website
Do
Daejeon Museum of Art
대전시립미술관
Daejeon's primary art facility, nestled between the Government Complex Daejeon, Hanbat Arboretum and the small Mannyeong-dong restaurant district. Has a spacious park filled with modern art sculptures out the front. A small stage out the front sometimes hosts free cultural performances on weekends.
10:00-19:00 (closed on Mon)
Do
Daejeon Observatory
Here you can observe the sun during the day or any number of celestial bodies at night. Located west of Expo Park, take the 604 bus to the observatory stop.
Tue-Sun 14:00-22:00, closed Mondays and the day following a national holiday
See
Daejeon Station
대전역
A walk around the alleyways straight across from the station will offer Ginseng (인삼 insam) and traditional medicine stores. Across the street from the market, see the Buy section of this article.
Do
Donghak-sa Temple
A picturesque temple outside of Daejeon in the adjacent city of Gongju, but linked in on the Daejeon bus routes. In addition to the temple, the valley contains restaurants, hotels and saunas (including a fair few of the funky "hobbit mushroom" styled ones) and a fairly dramatic waterfall, albeit dry much of the year. This all falls within Gyeryongsan National Park. A well stocked tourist information booth exists at the entrance and is an ideal starting point for a hiking trip over the region. Restaurants in the area tend to be well catered towards foreign (primarily Japanese) tourists with picture menus of the most popular items: a rarity in central South Korea. To get in, the 107 bus will take you from Daejeon Korail station direct, although it is much faster to take the subway to the National Cemetery station, and hop on the 107 there as it prepares to zip out of town. The bus stop is right next to the subway exit.
₩2000
See
Dunsan Prehistoric Settlement Site
When excavating for Dunsan new town in the early 1990s, a bunch of "stone-age" relics were discovered. Prior to the discovery, it was widely believed the region had a rather recent history. At a glance, the site is essentially a very hilly grassy park with scattered reproduction 'prehistoric huts' built over it. However the site provides extensive historical information for visitors. It is open at night and the inside of the huts light up as you approach showing off an interpretation of what was discovered, complete with reproductions of the various farming and domestic tools unearthed.
Free
See
Expo Park
대전엑스포 시민광장
Commemorate the Deajeon Expo held in 1993 and committed to understanding the role of science and technology. Closed every Monday. Entrance ₩2,500 per person. Parking for 100 cars, small ₩1,500-large ₩2,000. Image simulation hall, dome image hall, energy hall, electric energy hall, and science hall science/exhibition, science academy, robot class, handicraft class, body world, dinosaur festival, unification hall, Hanbit tower, scientist street, Aqua resort, Magic plaza, Gabcheon River, restaurant street, dining hall and tourist information centre. During the 1993 Deajeon Expo, a total ₩180 billion was invested. 108 countries participated and 14 million visitors attended.
Eat
Loving Hut
Part of a chain of organic, 100% vegan, new pseudo-religious group-run restaurants. Menus in the chain vary between outlets: Shintanjin's mostly serves rice or noodle based fare, but has a Western-style fake-meat item. Prices typically under ₩5,000, owners are friendly and probably won't try to convert you. Fake-meat can also be purchased to take home. A second outlet may be opening near Expo Park.
See
Mount Jangtaesan
장태산
Accommodation, fish farm, deer farms, a children’s playground within man-made forests and natural forests. 12 km trails, a sky tower, small gorges, rest and picnic areas. Children are provided with playgrounds and there are exercise facilities throughout the park.
Do
Namsun Park Comprehensive Sports Center
남선공원종합체육관
It operates the only ice rink and wave pool in Daejeon, and is a comprehensive leisure sports center where you can enjoy various sports such as golf, squash, and futsal.
06:00-21:30 (swimming pool), 06:00-22:45 (gym/gym), 10:00-17:45 (ice rink)
See
National Cemetery
국립대전현충원
National cemetery for Korea's war heroes and patriots. It's quite beautifully landscaped and surrounded by a ring walking trail. Dress standards apply.
Closed · opens 6 amFree
Do
O-World
A theme park, on the far, far south end of the city. Comprises Zooland (zoo boasting 130 species), Flower Land (flower park boasting 190 species) and Joyland (a regular ol' theme park).
See
Ppuri Park
A family-oriented park on the far southern outskirts of town. Down by a smallish dam, there are the usual swan boats and the like, but the odd drawcard is the hill covered in stone statues representing local family lineages. Local Koreans no doubt have a great time pouring over these, tracing their roots (ppuri), but to the casual observer it's just a curious, if unusual, collection of modern art. A path also leads over a bridge and to the top of the cliff directly to the south where not only is there a pleasant view, but the peak is also littered with a bizarre array of wooden phalli.
Free
See
Sikjangsan Mountain Forest
식장산
Open all year round, no parking facilities. The site provides extensive walking trails and temple visits.
Free
Do
Uam Historical Park
Historic scholarly site nestled in a mountain valley. Has a well kept lake and quite nice to stroll around. Hosts a (poorly gazetted) festival sometime in October. For hikers, the trail hidden at the rear-left of the park continues up the mountain, past a place to fill your water bottles and after a less than 30 min walk, all the way to the top of the ridge overlooking the immense Daecheong lake east of town.
Free
Do
Yuseong Foot Spa
A heated foot spa. The temperature is pretty high but varies along the length so it's appropriate even in winter, and you won't overheat in summer. Unlike most foot spas, the local populace demands pre-washing of feet at the wash-station at the end of the foot spa prior to entering (akin to the etiquette of a full body public bathhouse). Drop your stuff where you intend to sit, then walk down the end, wash up, and walk down the spa to get back to your seat. It can be an embarrassingly fulfilling sight seeing the elderly locals accosting Korean visitors from elsewhere in Korea unaware of this unstated rule. To get there, leave the subway station and head towards the main Yuseong junction to the north. Turn east and follow the wide grassy median strip about 500 m down the road.
Free
See Not mapped
Mount Bomunsan
보문산
Observatory, recreation facilities, and cable cars. Also 20 springs, one every 20 m and each supplies drinkable water. 10 trail routes are available including the Sirubong, Mupilbon, and Sansunggil trails. Important historical sites are located on the top of the mountain. Open year round. A few access ways are available, but the most popular one is via Bomunsan Park Jct.
Free
See Not mapped
Mt. Gyeryong
Mt. Gyeryong is the third designated national park in South Korea and is 845 m high. The peak, Cheonhwangbong, is a restricted area, and there are many tourists to Donghaksa Temple. Mountain climbers often go up to the Donghaksa-Eunseon Falls-Gwaneumbong course or the Donghaksa-Namma tower-Sambulbong course.

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Daejeon (CC BY-SA 4.0).