Everland unveils 'secret forest' housing Korea's largest ginkgo woodland

In a sponsored trip to Yongin, Korea, the Korea JoongAng Daily visited three locations run by Samsung C&T on Nov. 5. From ginkgo foliage to art and traditional Korean gardens, here's what we experienced.

Visitors to the ginkgo tree forest next to Everland theme park in Yongin, Gyeonggi, enjoy fall foilage on Nov. 5 [EVERLAND]

YONGIN, Gyeonggi — On a recent Tuesday afternoon, enormous swaths of yellow seemed to consume a secluded forest as fall came into full swing in November. The autumn sunlight peered through a golden canopy of ginkgo leaves, and the trails were thickly padded with foliage.

The forest, located next to the Everland theme park, spans over 145,000 square meters (36 acres) and is the largest ginkgo woodland in the country. Some 30,000 ginkgo trees have been planted since the 1970s.

Visitors to the ginkgo tree forest next to Everland theme park in Yongin, Gyeonggi, enjoy fall foilage on Nov. 5. [EVERLAND]

For 50 years, the forest was closed to the general public because it was thought to have no particular use. But with growing demand from locals wanting to revel in nature, it is looking to welcome more visitors in the future.

Through Nov. 10, Everland officials held pilot runs, opening the forest up to a limited number of people who registered for the event online. The park was pleasantly surprised to find out that about half of its visitors during the trial openings were those in their 20s and 30s. “We’ve noticed that there was a definite demand for nature viewing among Korea's young generation, which is certainly a change from a decade or so ago,” the head of Samsung C&T’s Experience Innovation Academy department, Lee Yu-ri, told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Nov. 5.

Visitors to the Gingko tree forest in Yongin, Gyeonggi, enjoy yoga in the woods on Nov. 5 [LEE JIAN]

“We didn’t know how to really use this space, but now we see so much more potential. We plan to design activities and passes for the public in the future.” This would include forest walks, meditation and yoga. “Nature is trending, and we think this could be a great place for people to come and revel in nature’s tranquility,” Lee added.

The ginkgo tree forest, as well as Everland, is owned by Samsung Group, the Korean family-run conglomerate. Founder Lee Byung-chul (1910-1987) acquired a part of Yongin, spanning about 4 million pyeong (3,268 acres), in the 1960s.

On a trip to Yongin, Gyeonggi, the Korea JoongAng Daily visited three locations for the fall season on Nov. 5. From ginkgo foliage to art and traditional Korean gardens, here's what we experienced.

The Secret Ginkgo Forest

Gingko tree forest in Yongin, Gyeonggi [LEE JIAN]

Ginkgo trees are a common sight for people in the city, often planted on the sides of streets. But what makes this particular ginkgo-filled forest at the foot of Mount Hyangsoo worth the visit is its sheer scale and more rustic backdrop.

According to Lee Joon-kyu, director of Plants and Contents at Samsung C&T Corporation’s Resort Business Division, ginkgo trees do not easily grow and spread in the wild. They are also listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation.

“Humans usually harm nature, but for ginkgo trees, our intervention is actually saving them,” said Lee.

Reservoir at the Gingko tree forest in Yongin, Gyeonggi [LEE JIAN]

The trek around the forest's 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) trail fares on the easy side, with no significant hills. Along the walk, slim ginkgo trees as tall as some 80 feet shoot up from both sides of the trail. There isn't much that is set up for humans other than the roughly paved trail and a couple of benches. The area isn't fenced, and the ground feels rugged under the stacks of foliage. But the raw quality of the forest is what differentiates it from many other foliage hot spots in the greater Seoul area, which tend to be heavily manned and bombarded with visitors.

Hoam Museum of Art

Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, Gyeonggi [HOAM MUSEUM OF ART]

About a 10-minute drive from the forest is the Hoam Museum of Art. It is currently holding a solo exhibition of Swiss visual artist Nicolas Party, titled “Dust.”

The exhibition is Party’s largest survey, presenting 73 paintings, sculptures and murals, of which 20 are new. The artist visited Korea earlier in the year to paint the murals on view in the exhibition. A portion of Party’s art has also been arranged alongside a selection of traditional Korean artworks and antique pieces from the Leeum Museum of Art’s collection.

″Portrait″ (2017) by Nicolas Party [HOAM MUSEUM OF ART]

It runs through Jan. 19.

The Hoam Museum of Art is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Adult tickets for the show are 14,000 won ($10.50).

Heewon Traditional Korean Garden

Heewon Traditional Korean Garden in Yongin, Gyeonggi [LEE JIAN]

Outside the art museum is a traditional Korean garden called Heewon, designed by the country's pioneering landscape architect Jung Young-sun.

Measuring some 66,000 square meters in area, it features dozens of rare flora, creating a blazing symphony of colors in the fall. Modern and ancient art is scattered throughout the garden.

Heewon Traditional Korean Garden in Yongin, Gyeonggi [LEE JIAN]

Heewon is not too manicured. Its trees and flowers aren’t perfectly trimmed nor planted on a grid. The focus is on how the flora merges with the surrounding landscape — a unique characteristic of Korean traditional gardens. Everything seamlessly blends in with the mountains and the skyline beyond the garden by design.

Prices to view the garden are included in the exhibition ticket. There is no option to visit only the garden without visiting the gallery.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]