Ageobong peak – more often referred to as Crocodile Peak – is a moderately difficult hike near Chungju – about an hour and a half – two hours away from Camp Humphreys. We’ve been slowly building our kids’ hiking skills and we’ve been so impressed with how they’ve done. And so, a couple Saturdays ago, we made the drive out to Chungju to conquer Crocodile Peak as a family. And spoiler alert: it was much harder than we were prepared for.
Crocodile Peak in Chungju
AllTrails classifies the Crocodile Peak hike as “moderately challenging” – which I generally agree with. It’s ROUGHLY a 2.5 mile out-and-back hike (AllTrails says it’s 1.3 miles total, but we’ve seen 2.5 miles elsewhere and that absolutely seems more correct) with a 777-foot elevation gain. Honestly, with how steep it is the entire way (with little opportunity for respite), I would classify it as difficult if it were any longer. But, because it’s a relatively short hike, it’s doable even with kids – although that greatly depends on kids’ ages and hiking experience. If you’re looking for something a little more tame, I recommend checking out the Maansan Mountain Hike (more commonly referred to as the Bee + Honey Hike) or if your kids are up for a bit more of a challenge, the Elephant Rock Trail is one of our favorites.
One of the convenient things about this hike is the parking situation. Anyone who has lived in or visited South Korea will likely agree that parking is usually a challenge here. And so, when I find somewhere with a parking lot, I can’t help but be grateful. Directly across from where the hike starts is the Lazy Caiman Café with its gloriously large parking lot. It was busy when we arrived, but we were still able to secure parking easily enough (even though we didn’t arrive until about 12:30).
After a quick stop at the restrooms (because kids and also because I have the bladder of someone who has birthed five children), we crossed the road and ducked behind the giant banner that we are 99.9% sure was telling us not to hike there. It was all in Korean and we didn’t bother to translate it – since we knew it was there beforehand and also knew that everybody ignores it. And so it added a little bit of thrill to the whole experience since we now felt like crazy rule-breakers. Just kidding.
The beginning of the hike is INTENSE. And it was made even more intense thanks to the rain we’d had in the days before our hike. The first incline is STEEP (we’re talking a 50 or 60-degree angle – although I unfortunately left my protractor at home… okay that was a dumb joke). And it’s also solid dirt (ie. mud because of the rain) which made it quite slippery – which is always fun. Nevertheless, we weren’t going to let a little incline (and the Korean woman in front of us nearly falling on her face) keep us from our adventure. So we pressed on and we survived.
After the initial incline was a staircase – in true Korean hiking fashion – where we climbed roughly 100 steps before once again entering a very steep, very rocky, and quite overgrown path. Still, it was easy enough to see where we were supposed to go and there were a decent amount of other people on the trail that day, so none of this was a big deal.
Our kids were absolutely killing it – aside from one of our children who will remain nameless who was in a really terrible mood and was dead-set on having a miserable time (and she did). And sure, the constant whining was frustrating, but when you have five kids, you get used to at least ONE of them complaining at any given moment. But even with the one child who was bent on being miserable, we all managed to have a good time. Although there were multiple times where I thought I MIGHT die. It was a whopping 90 degrees with 86% humidity. And even though that didn’t feel QUITE as hot as it was in Vietnam during our vacation, it was pretty draining.
What made the heat more bearable was the amount of shade on this trail. Truly this trail is one of my favorites because of the shade. Were it uncovered the entire way, I really think we’d have given up halfway up the mountain. But the shade (and the many MANY breaks we took) made it possible – even if we were dripping sweat from every part of our bodies.
One of my favorite parts of the last few hikes we’ve done is being able to see the trees thinning as we get closer to the peak. It’s that little sliver of hope as you think you’re ascending the final incline… which multiple times on this hike didn’t end up being the ACTUAL final incline. But that’s okay because just having that little bit of hope – seeing the trees thin more and more and seeing the sky through their branches – keeps me going even when I wonder how I could take another step with the toddler on my back.
Then when you FINALLY break through to the final peak, the feeling is even more amazing. All that hope finally amounted to something and holy smokes were the views absolutely worth every single struggle during this hike. And it became abundantly clear why this hike is usually called Crocodile Peak. The many peninsulas that litter Chungjuho Lake really do look like giant crocodiles floating in the water. And it’s an incredible site.
And a fun fact for the day that you might not care about, but that I still want to mention: Chungjuho Lake is the largest lake in South Korea. Or maybe Soyangho Lake is. Honestly, there’s this funny thing when you search for the “largest ____” in Korea: you get multiple answers. When I was searching for the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in South Korea, I found 5 different bridges all claiming to be the longest (on the same website even). When in reality, Yedangho Bridge is the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in South Korea according to my in-depth research. And if you visit Gakwonsa in Cheonan, people will tell you that their giant stone Buddha is the largest seated Buddha in South Korea. When really the largest seated Buddha is in Busan. It’s possible that I’m just missing something here, but it’s a funny little discovery I made. So we’ll just say that Chungjuho Lake is ONE of the largest lakes in South Korea – and possibly, maybe, perhaps the biggest.
After descending very CAREFULLY down the mountain, we made our way over to the Lazy Caiman Café for some lattes (which are milk drinks in Korea, and not coffee drinks), juice, and smoothies because we absolutely did not pack enough water for such a hot day and we were definitely slightly dehydrated (and in need of some sugar). The kids loved playing in the hammock that was set up and H enjoyed waving hi and saying “annyeong!” and blowing kisses to all the ajummas. (And let’s be honest: the ajummas were loving it too.)
So we made it to the top, nobody died, and almost everyone was in a fantastic mood for the entire hike. I don’t know about you folks, but I call that a win.
’til next time…
Ash
How to hike to Crocodile Peak in Chungju
Directions: The Lazy Caiman Café across the street from the trailhead has a large parking lot that you can park in and that is accessible by public transportation. Paste 충청북도 충주시 살미면 월악로 927 into Naver and it will take you right to the café (or tell you which routes to take for public transport).
Getting to the trailhead: From the parking lot, you’ll go directly across the street (where you’ll likely see a large banner with yellow “safety tape” and lots of Korean written on it). Go BEHIND that banner and you will see the trailhead. It isn’t clearly marked (and there’s another smaller sign at the beginning of the trailhead with a picture of a person crossed out on it), but it’s also hard to miss considering how overgrown everything else around it is. Don’t be worried about the signs: we saw probably 20 other people on the trail that day and they were ALL locals. Start the steep climb and you should get to a staircase really early in the hike. When in doubt: pull up the AllTrails app and search for Ageobong (or visit the trail on the AllTrails website).
Cost: Parking and the hike are both free, however there is a 3,800 toll to get there (unless you take a route that is about 30 minutes longer).
Difficulty: This hike is classified as moderately challenging. It isn’t an overly long hike (less than three miles round-trip), but it is very steep and there are many places where you’ll use your hands to help you. The round-trip hike took our family ABOUT three hours to complete (though bear in mind we did the hike with our five kids ages 2-11 years old).
Looking for something else to do in Chungju? Check out Hwalok Cave!
