Hwadam Forest Maple Festival – Colorful Gyeonggi-do Maple Festival

Festival name	Hwadam Forest Maple Festival
period	October 20, 2023 – November 12, 2023
time	8:30am – 6:00pm
location	Hwadam Forest (278-1 Docheokwit-ro, Docheok-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do)
fee	pay
home page	www.hwadamsup.com

I visited the Hwadam Forest Maple Festival last fall. It was my second visit since last year, and Hwadam Forest is a place where you feel like you’ve properly seen the fall foliage. The day I visited was November 4th, and it was a great day to see the beautiful fall foliage.

You can find Hwadam Forest by searching for Hwadam Forest or Gonjiam Resort on your navigation. It takes about 10 minutes to walk from the parking lot to Hwadam Forest. It is a short path, but it is uphill, so it may be a bit difficult. Please note that you can also go up using the lift.

We arrived at the entrance to Hwadam Forest. There is a ticket booth in front of the entrance, but tickets cannot be purchased on site. You must purchase tickets online on the website and then visit.

In the case of the Hwadam Forest Monorail, you can purchase tickets online or at the on-site kiosk, but during peak seasons such as spring and fall, you can see that the monorail is sold out so early that you cannot ride it without purchasing tickets online.

Smoking and drinking are prohibited in Hwadam Forest, and bringing in food, mats, tripods, collecting tools, play equipment, cooking utensils, drones, etc. is prohibited. Also, pets are not allowed, and collecting forest products is not allowed.

However, among food items, drinks, chocolate, candy, snacks, fruits without skins, and baby food are allowed.

The leaflet contains a detailed map of Hwadam Forest.

At the entrance of Hwadam Forest, a thousand-year-old Hwadam Pine tree welcomes tourists, and the Natural Ecology Hall, which opens right after, has various insects, making it a good place to take a quick look around.

Hwadam Forest is largely a clockwise walking path with various themes, including a moss garden, azalea and azalea path, a trail for exploration, a birch forest, a fern garden, a pine garden, a fountain garden, a rock and landscape garden, a traditional fence path, a color garden, a rose of Sharon garden, a hydrangea garden, a firefly garden, a garden of memories, and a mandarin duck pond.

The beautiful autumn foliage is located at the beginning of the path, and before exiting after finishing the walk, you can stop by a tavern without a number and a cafe & souvenir shop.

While walking along the trail, you can participate in the stamp tour at the stamp boxes located in 5 places. Once you have collected all the stamps, you can receive a souvenir at the ticket booth. You can receive a magnet with a different picture for each season, and if you complete the spring, summer, and fall stamp tours, you can receive a winter souvenir.

This is the autumn foliage of Hwadam Forest. If you take a picture when the monorail passes by, you can get a prettier picture. The birch forest also offers a beautiful view, and you can feel healed just by walking among the trees.

At the tavern without a street address at the end of the trail, seafood pancakes, tofu kimchi, Byeongcheon sundae, vegetable fish cake kimbap, Busan fish cake, makgeolli, and other food are sold. The prices are a bit high, but the atmosphere of eating by the pond is so special that you would regret just passing it by. There are many people, so you have to wait until a seat becomes available, but it is worth the trouble.

These are the magnetic souvenirs I received after completing the stamp tour. The one on the left was received in 2022, and the one on the right was received in 2023. I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to collect souvenirs and make memories.