Pyeongchang as Healing Place for Social Distancing

Sometimes, you get exhausted from your busy daily life and work without taking care of yourself. At the time, it would be good for you to heal yourself walking  slowly through the woods filled with birds singing and the clear sound of flowing water under warm sunlight shining through leaves. Let’s put down our anguish in the dense green forests and recover our body and mind.

Fir Forest

The fir forest located in the Odaesan National Park is thickly wooded with large fir trees which reach the height of 40 m and live for more than 500 years. As a tourist destination in Odaesan Mountain as famous as Woljeongsa Temple, it is perfect for forest bathing full of phytoncide. It is a good place for you to take a light walk on the gradual trail and to avoid heat with the fir trees that create cool areas with natural shade. The fir tree path is about one kilometer long. At the end of the path, you can see the Bangadari Mineral Spring. Made up of iron and carbonic acid, as key components, from the Bangadari Mineral Spring, the mineral water is said to be effective in gastrointestinal and skin diseases. While listening to the sound of the flowing stream and birds singing and breathing the fresh air in the forest, you can feel your tense body and mind gradually relaxed. Receiving sunshine, air, sound, and scenery from nature may make you heal.

Information on the place in Pyeongchang

350-1 Odaesan-ro, Jinbu-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do, Korea
1577-0069
http://woljeongsa.org/intro.php

Mill Bridge

Mill Bridge, a fir forest shelter in Odaesan Mountain, is a space designed to respect, and be harmonized with, nature without harming the forest. Bangadari Mineral Spring located in Mill Bridge had become devastated after the Korean War but it has taken on the present shape by steadily cultivating the woods. The mineral water from the Bangadari Mineral Spring has been famous for its medicinal effects since the time of King Sukjong in the Joseon Dynasty and Mill Bridge uses the mineral spring to operate the mineral water experience center. Besides, it has a forest experience and learning center, a meditation experience center, a gallery, and a residence center for accommodation by using the fir forest environment with a marsh ecological park, a wildflower garden, a forest shelter, a forest observation deck, etc. It provides a variety of dishes. When you order a dinner, you may taste chicken soup, braised chicken, raw codfish soup, boiled pork, and roasted pollack. When you visit Mill Bridge during the day, you can enjoy the scenery outside while drinking a cup of tea there or walk along the trail with a guide map in front of the cafe. If you want to stay longer, try to use Mill Bridge accommodations. There are various rooms such as double, triple, and quadruple rooms, all of which are eco-friendly spaces composed of wide windows, white-toned interiors, and wooden floors. At any room, you can enjoy the fir forest. You will be able to round off a day in a wonderful natural scenery and romantic atmosphere.

1011-26, Bangadari-ro, Jinbu-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do, Korea
033-335-7282
www.millbridge.co.kr
Open 365 days a year 10:00-18:00

<입장료>

Individual Adult KRW 2,000 Youth KRW 1,500 Child KRW 1,000
Group Adult KRW 1,500 Youth KRW 1,000 Child KRW 500
Discount Rate KRW 1,000

*Free admission for local residents, people aged 65 and above, and soldiers and policemen

Farm Herbnara

If you want to refresh your mind and body in the scent of nature, it is recommended to visit Farm Herbnara. Opened in 1993, Herbnara is Korea’s first herb farm for tourists where more than 100 kinds of herbs, such as rosemary, lavender and chamomile, are cultivated in a field of more than 10,000 pyeong (roughly 33,000 square meters). Located at Heungjeong Valley in Bongpyeong, it allows you to enjoy a great view with the fragrance of herbs. The farm has various facilities such as a beautiful garden, a glasshouse, a garden cafe where you can enjoy herbal dishes, a restaurant named Birch House, a herb museum, and Herbnara Pension. At the craft house, you can have a variety of experiences such as natural soaps, scented candles, flower pots, pressed handicrafts, perfumes, and plaster fragrances, which are popular with children. Various herbal products such as healthy herbal dishes, herbal teas and soaps attract tourists’ attention. Particularly in October, colorful autumn leaves appear around Heungjeong Valley where you can enjoy the mood of Autumn while walking through the maple trail. It is recommended to take part in the Herbnara Autumn Festival with everything to see, eat and enjoy, to make pleasant memories with your family and lovers.

225, Heungjeonggyegok-gil, Bongpyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do, Korea
033-335-2902
www.herbnara.com

<Admission Time>

[From November 1 to April 30]
Open at 09:00 AM Closed at 05:30 PM

[From May 1 to October 30]
Open at 09:00 AM Closed at 06:00 PM

*Last admissions are one hour before closing.
*There are no regular holidays from May to October.
*Regular holidays will be separately announced every month from November. (Refer to the website.)

<Admission Fee>

Group: 30 or more people
Preferential treatment: Elementary school students, senior citizens, people of national merit, Pyeongchang residents and disabled people
※ Military-faithful family member KRW 2,000 discount at all times
Free: Children under elementary school age or younger (when accompanied by family), Bongpyeong-myeon residents