Damyang travel guide: Juknokwon bamboo, Metasequoia Road and Soswaewon

Half a day from Gwangju, or a night in the bamboo

Damyang's main sights line up in and around the county town, Damyang-eup. Juknokwon, the bamboo garden, is in Damyang-eup itself; Gwanbangjerim is a 2-kilometre band of old trees along the banks of the Damyangcheon stream, and VisitKorea lists Juknokwon and the Metasequoia-lined road as its neighbours. That makes a compact loop on foot: bamboo first, the riverside forest next, the tree-lined road last, with a tteokgalbi lunch or dinner in town. Check walking distances in a map app on the day, but you do not need a car for this part.

Juknokwon's own directions page describes the bus most visitors use: route 311 from the stop in front of the main gate of Gwangju's U-Square bus terminal, or from the stop behind Gwangju Station, to Juknokwon. That puts Damyang within easy reach for a half day from Gwangju. A full day lets you add Soswaewon and the pavilions of Gasamunhak-myeon, which are on a different bus line (see the last section).

A night is worth it for one reason: the hanok rooms inside Juknokwon. Guests there enter the garden free, and the official booking page says check-in runs from 15:00 to 22:00 and check-out is at 11:00 — so you can walk the bamboo in the late afternoon and again first thing the next morning before the day visitors arrive. Otherwise, Gwangju has far more hotels and food, and Damyang works well as a day out.

Juknokwon bamboo garden

Juknokwon was created by Damyang County in May 2003, according to VisitKorea; the garden's official site gives a formal opening in March 2005 and an area of about 310,000 square metres, roughly double the 160,000 square metres VisitKorea quotes, because the official figure also counts the Siga Culture Village inside the grounds. Inside are dense groves of tall bamboo, 2.4 kilometres of walking paths divided into eight themed trails, pavilions, rest huts and two hanok cafés. VisitKorea's column suggests about an hour for a leisurely walk, and the first trail alone is 420 metres, about 15 minutes, on the official map.

When we checked on 3 October 2026, the official site and VisitKorea listed opening hours of 9:00 to 19:00 from March to October (last admission 18:00) and 9:00 to 18:00 from November to February (last admission 17:30), with no closing day. Admission was 3,000 won for adults, 1,500 won for teenagers and 1,000 won for primary-school children; preschoolers and visitors aged 65 and over enter free with ID. The main gate is at 119 Jungnogwon-ro and the rear gate at 363 Jukhyangmunhwa-ro.

The rules are stricter than in a park: the site lists no smoking anywhere, no outside food or cooking, no bicycles or e-scooters, no large dogs (small dogs only if carried), and no writing on the bamboo or picking bamboo shoots. Wheelchairs can be borrowed at the rear-gate ticket office, and the official site suggests wheelchair and pushchair users keep to the Siga Culture Village area because of the terrain.

That culture village, inside the garden, is worth the detour even if you will not reach the real thing: it recreates Damyang's famous pavilions — Myeonangjeong, Sigyeongjeong, Songgangjeong, Gwangpunggak of Soswaewon and others — alongside a hall for pansori teaching, a room for tasting jukro tea, and the hanok guest rooms. VisitKorea suggests ending a Juknokwon visit with a cup of bamboo-leaf tea.

• Hours (checked 3 October 2026): March–October 9:00–19:00, November–February 9:00–18:00; last admission 18:00 / 17:30.
• Tickets: adults 3,000 won, teenagers 1,500 won, children 1,000 won.
• Gates: main gate 119 Jungnogwon-ro; rear gate (hanok stay, parking) 363 Jukhyangmunhwa-ro.

Gwanbangjerim and the Metasequoia-lined road

Gwanbangjerim is a man-made forest planted along the Damyangcheon stream to hold back floods. VisitKorea describes large muku, zelkova, nettle and cherry trees about 200 to 300 years old, stretching 2 kilometres from Dongjeong Village in Namsan-ri, and notes that the forest is a designated Natural Monument and was named Korea's most beautiful forest by the Korea Forest Service. It is a riverside walk rather than a sight with a gate — come for the shade and the old trunks, and use it as the link between town and the Metasequoia road.

The Damyang Metasequoia-lined road was planted in the early 1970s along the rebuilt National Road 24; the saplings were three or four years old then, and VisitKorea says they now grow high enough to block out the sun. The Korea Forest Service picked the boulevard as one of Korea's most beautiful roads in 2002, and VisitKorea gives its full length as 8.5 kilometres.

The walking section near town is ticketed. When we checked on 3 October 2026, VisitKorea listed hours of 9:00 to 19:00 from May to August and 9:00 to 18:00 from September to April, closure on the days of Seollal and Chuseok, and an adult ticket of 2,000 won (teenagers 1,000 won, children 700 won; free for under-sevens and over-65s). The address is 12 Metasequoia-ro. Next to it, Meta Provence is a European-themed shopping and café complex; it is free and handy for a coffee, but it is not the reason to come.

Soswaewon and the gasa pavilions

Soswaewon is a private garden of the Joseon period built by Yang San-bo (1503–1557), who gave up public life after his teacher Jo Gwang-jo was killed in the political purge of 1519. VisitKorea's feature describes the sequence as you walk in from the bamboo grove at the entrance: the thatched Daebongdae pavilion, a log bridge to the Ogongmun gate, whose openings let the stream pass under the wall, Gwangpunggak, where guests were received beside the water, and Jewoldang above it, where Yang read. It is small — the point is the way buildings, wall and stream fit into the valley — and it is best visited slowly and quietly.

VisitKorea gives two versions of its hours. Its destination page listed 9:00 to 17:00, open all year; its feature on the garden gave seasonal hours of 9:00 to 19:00 from May to August, 9:00 to 18:00 in March, April, September and October, and 9:00 to 17:00 from November to February. Plan around the earlier time. When we checked on 3 October 2026, adult admission was 2,000 won (teenagers 1,000 won, children 700 won), parking was free, and the address was 17 Soswaewon-gil, Gasamunhak-myeon.

Soswaewon is part of a cluster that explains why Damyang is called the cradle of gasa, a form of Korean verse. Nearby, Sigyeongjeong Pavilion is linked to the poet Jeong Cheol and his Seongsanbyeolgok, and the Korea Gasa Literature Museum at 877 Gasamunhak-ro displays the collected works of Song Sun and Jeong Cheol; when we checked, VisitKorea listed it as free, with the same seasonal hours as the Soswaewon feature. Myeonangjeong, built by Song Sun in 1533, is in Bongsan-myeon and needs a separate trip.

Changpyeong slow city

Samjinae Village in Changpyeong-myeon was the first place in Korea designated a slow city, in 2007, according to VisitKorea: a farming village of stone-walled lanes and old houses whose draw is food and craft rather than sights. VisitKorea lists hands-on sessions making hangwa (traditional sweets) and ssalyeot (rice taffy), tea ceremonies and homemade makgeolli; it notes that programmes depend on local conditions, so contact the village before you go.

Changpyeong suits a second day or a car trip combined with Soswaewon. It is also the place for a slower night: VisitKorea lists Gotaekhanok, an old house with men's and women's quarters and a large yard on Doldam-gil, with breakfast available.

Getting to Damyang and around

From Gwangju, the official Juknokwon and Damyang County pages describe the same route: bus 311 from the stop in front of the U-Square bus terminal's main gate, or from the rear of Gwangju Station, to Juknokwon. The county's travel FAQ says 311 runs every 10 to 15 minutes, and its timetable page listed direct buses between Gwangju and Damyang from 5:50 to 22:45, about every 15 minutes. From Gwangju Songjeong Station, the FAQ suggests a city bus to the bus terminal or Gwangju Station first and then the 311.

For Soswaewon, Damyang County lists Gwangju city bus Chunghyo 187, which runs from Yeoncheon via Soswaewon and the Gasa Literature Museum through Chunghyo-dong into Gwangju; rural bus 225 also links Gasamunhak-myeon with the Gwangju bus terminal. Damyang-eup and Gasamunhak-myeon are on different lines, so if you want both in one day, plan on Juknokwon in the morning, a return towards Gwangju, and Soswaewon on the way — or take a taxi between them. The county publishes local taxi numbers by district.

From Seoul, VisitKorea lists Damyang among the routes from the Central City terminal (Express Bus Terminal Station, Lines 3, 7 and 9). When we checked, the county's page showed four premium express buses a day each way, taking about 3 hours 30 minutes, and Juknokwon's page listed four departures too, at slightly different times — check a booking app before you rely on one. Most travellers are better off taking the train to Gwangju and continuing by bus 311.

• Morning: bus 311 from Gwangju to Juknokwon; walk the bamboo trails and the Siga Culture Village.
• Lunch: tteokgalbi or a daetongbap set in Damyang-eup.
• Afternoon: Gwanbangjerim along the stream, then the Metasequoia road.
• Full day or second day: Soswaewon, Sigyeongjeong and the Gasa Literature Museum on bus 187, or Changpyeong.