Hallasan in winter: which trail to pick, how to book the summit with just an email, and the 11:30 cut-off

To stand on the Hallasan summit in winter, you need two things: a booking for the summit section, and a start early enough to pass the 11:30 gate.
You can make the booking with an email address.
You don't need a Korean phone number.
If the summit is sold out, you can still hike, either partway up the summit trails or on the Yeongsil and Eorimok trails, which need no booking.
This guide is for the November–March hiking season; the park's winter times also cover October.

The winter gate times that actually apply

Since the park moved to two seasons, "winter" runs from October to March.
In winter you must pass the Seongpanak and Gwaneumsa entrances, and the shelter control points above them, by 11:30.

From the two-season table on the official visiting-hours page, checked 4 November 2026. From April to September, a different summer column applies.
The park's English version of that page calls Jindallaebat "Azalea Field" and Nambyeok the "South wall junction".
The two versions also disagree on the earliest entry: the English page gives 05:00, while the Korean page still lists 06:00 for November to February.
If you plan to start before 06:00, check with the park first.

The descent deadlines matter as much as the cut-offs.
For example, you must leave the summit by 13:30. Getting through Jindallaebat at 11:30 does not leave you unlimited time at the top.

Do you need a booking? Only for the summit sections

Under the park's 23 April 2025 notice, you need a booking only for two sections: Jindallaebat to Baengnokdam (the summit crater) on the Seongpanak trail, and Samgakbong to Baengnokdam on the Gwaneumsa trail.
Everything else is open without one.
That means you can walk the Seongpanak trail as far as Jindallaebat Shelter, or the Gwaneumsa trail as far as Samgakbong Shelter, with no booking at all.
The Yeongsil, Eorimok and Donnaeko trails need no booking either.

This decides your plan:

• You want the crater (Baengnokdam). Book Seongpanak or Gwaneumsa for your date.

• The summit is sold out, or you decided late. Take Yeongsil or Eorimok up to Witseoreum and the south-wall junction, or walk Seongpanak or Gwaneumsa as far as the shelter and turn back.

• You want a short winter walk. Yeongsil to Witseoreum is the shortest of these routes by the park's own times: 1 hr 30 min.

Which trail fits a short winter day?

Plan backwards from the 11:30 gate.
The times below are the park's own figures from each trailhead.
The "latest start" column is simple arithmetic from those figures: it gives no margin for snow, rest stops or a slower pace.

Distances and times from the Hallasan National Park trail guide, checked 4 November 2026.

Treat those latest starts as limits, not targets.
If you start Seongpanak at 8:30 and keep the official pace, you reach the summit at 13:00, with only 30 minutes before the 13:30 descent deadline.
For a summit day, aim to start between 6:00 and 8:00, which falls in the 05:00–08:00 booking slot. That slot also has four times the capacity of the later one (see below).

Gwaneumsa is the shorter trail on paper (8.7 km against 9.6 km), but the park allows more time for it: 5 hr to the summit against 4 hr 30 min.
Neither trail needs a booking below the shelters, so you can turn around there on either.

Booking the summit without a Korean phone number

The English login page has two options: Kakao login, and "Non-member verification" by email.
The page itself directs foreigners who can't do Korean real-name verification to the email route.

1. Open the English login page and choose Non-member verification.

2. Enter your email address and press "Send verification code". The domain list offers naver.com, daum.net and gmail.com; for any other domain, pick the last option in the list (it is labelled in Korean) and type your domain.

3. Enter the code from your inbox and press "Confirm verification number".

4. Pick Seongpanak or Gwaneumsa, the date, the time slot (05:00–08:00 or 08:01–11:30) and the number of people.

5. Enter each hiker's details exactly as they appear on the ID they will carry. For most visitors that will be a passport.

6. Look for the entry QR codes in the booking messages. The park sends them by KakaoTalk, text message or email. There is one code per person. If you booked with email verification, check that inbox, including the spam folder.

The rules that catch people out:

• Group size and frequency. One person can book for up to 4 people, once a week, counted by hike date.

• Cancellation. You can cancel only until your booked time slot ends.

• No-shows. If you don't cancel in time, you can't book for 3 months. A second no-show means a 1-year ban.

• ID at the gate. Staff check each QR code against your ID. If the ID doesn't match the booking details, you are refused entry and banned from the mountain for 1 year. The notice says only "ID". It doesn't name a document for foreigners, but a passport is the safe choice for most visitors.

When do slots open, and how many are there?

Bookings for the next month open at 9 a.m. Korea time on the first business day of each month.
By that rule, December 2026 bookings opened on 2 November 2026, and January 2027 bookings open on 1 December 2026 at 9 a.m.

From the park's time-slot notice, checked 4 November 2026.

As of 4 November 2026, the park has not announced a booking waiver for this winter.
In 2024, it lifted the booking requirement on both summit trails from 27 November to 27 December, so check the park's notice board before you book in case it does the same this year.

Snow, crampons and closures

Heavy-rain, typhoon and heavy-snow advisories and warnings can close trails, partly or completely.
Check the real-time trail information on the park's home page on the morning you go, not the night before.

If weather closes the trail on your booked day, the park sends a message to everyone with a booking.
Cancel before your booked slot ends and book a new date. That is the instruction in the park's FAQ.

There are no shops on Hallasan's trails.
The park's notice tells Seongpanak hikers to bring water, food, crampons, poles and rain gear before they set off, and its English page lists winter clothes, crampons, gloves and warm water for winter visits.
In winter, treat crampons as essential, not optional.

Getting to the trailheads by bus

All four main trailheads are on bus routes from Jeju City.
Journey times below are from the park's directions page.
Check first and last buses on Jeju's official bus information site for your date, because an early start depends on them.

From the official directions page, checked 4 November 2026.

If you plan to drive, see our guide to renting a car in Korea as a foreigner.
The Seongpanak car park has only 156 spaces and fills early.
At the park's car parks, a small car costs ₩1,000 for the first hour, then 500 won per 20 minutes, up to ₩13,000 a day (reached at 9 hours or more).

Where foreign hikers get stuck, and the fix

"The summit is sold out, so I can't hike." You can.
Only the summit sections are booked.
Take Yeongsil or Eorimok to Witseoreum, or walk Seongpanak to Jindallaebat and back.
If you want the crater, watch for cancellations in the 05:00–08:00 slot, which has the most places.

"I don't have a Korean number, so I can't book." Use Non-member verification on the English login page and receive the code by email.
Remember to use email verification again whenever you check or cancel.

"I arrived at 11:45." The gate is closed for the summit trails.
The park's times put the latest Seongpanak start at about 8:30, so give yourself margin: start by 8:00, and check your bus before you book a slot.

"The trail looked clear at the bottom." Snow and ice can sit on the upper slopes even when the trailhead is clear, and there are no shops on the way up.
Carry crampons from the start, and check the trail information on the park's home page before you leave.

After the summit: your certificate

Since 1 September 2026, you can apply for the summit certificate on the reservation website and download it as a PDF.
Do it on the day of your hike: at the summit, enter your reservation number and upload a summit photo taken that day.
The certificate then appears under Reservation inquiry.

For the rest of your Jeju trip, see which famous restaurant queues you can join without a Korean phone number.