Taean and Anmyeondo guide: pine beaches, dunes and Kkotji sunsets

Two halves of one coast: the peninsula and Anmyeondo

Taeanhaean National Park, designated in 1978 as Korea's 13th national park, runs north to south across the Taean peninsula and Anmyeondo, according to the Korea National Park Service (KNPS). It is a long, thin park of beaches, dunes and headlands rather than a single area you can see in an afternoon, and distances between the best spots are measured in bus rides, not short walks.

Think of it as two halves. The north and west of the peninsula — Hagampo, the Sinduri dunes, Mallipo, Cheollipo and the arboretum — is reached from Taean-eup, the county town with the main bus terminal. Anmyeondo to the south is, as VisitKorea explains, Korea's sixth-largest island: once part of the mainland, it was cut off by a canal dug to move grain and rejoined to it by a bridge in 1970. Its town, Anmyeon-eup, has its own bus terminal and sits near Baeksajang port, Kkotji Beach and the island's pine forest. Mongsanpo and the Nam-myeon coast lie between the two.

With a car, base yourself wherever you like the lodging and drive. Without one, choose the half you care about most and sleep by its terminal; two nights lets you do one half properly each day rather than spending the trip on transfers.

• Anmyeondo day: Baeksajang port, the Noeul-gil walk south through the pines, sunset at Kkotji.
• North-coast day: the Sinduri dunes and Duung wetland, then Mallipo and Cheollipo Arboretum.
• Extra day: Mongsanpo's tidal flats, or the quiet beaches of southern Anmyeondo by car.

Anmyeondo: Baeksajang, the Noeul-gil and Kkotji at sunset

Baeksajang port, VisitKorea says, is the largest harbour on Anmyeondo, its approach lined with seafood restaurants and fish markets. A pedestrian bridge decorated with blue crabs and prawns — the Kkotgedari — crosses the channel to Deureuni port on the mainland side and is lit up at night. KNPS calls Baeksajang the country's largest landing place for wild jumbo prawns (daeha).

From here the Noeul-gil (Sunset Trail), section 5 of the Taean Haebyeon-gil, follows the coast south to Kkotji. KNPS gives it as 12 kilometres and about 3 hours 40 minutes, through dense black-pine woods behind Sambong and Gijipo beaches, past a restored dune at Gijipo, the stone fish trap (doksal) at Batgae, and the stand of golden rain trees at Bangpo, a Natural Monument. KNPS lists a Taean-bound city bus from Anmyeon Bus Terminal to Baeksajang, about 15 minutes, so you can ride to the start and walk back towards town.

Kkotji Beach has a 5-kilometre stretch of sand and the two rock islets Halmibawi and Halabibawi — Grandma and Grandpa Rocks. VisitKorea retells the legend of Mido, a Silla-era wife who waited by the sea for a husband who never came back and turned to stone; KNPS counts the rocks among the three great sunset spots of the Yellow Sea. The flower bridge between Bangpo and Kkotji is the classic place to watch it.

Two calmer additions: the Anmyeondo Recreational Forest, a pine forest that VisitKorea says was managed by the royal family in the Goryeo period (when we checked on 2026-10-03, VisitKorea listed 09:00–18:00 from March to October and 09:00–17:00 from November to February, closed on the first Monday of the month, adult admission 1,000 won), and Unyeo Beach further south, where a pine-topped breakwater fills with water at high tide and makes a mirror for the sunset.

The north coast: Sinduri dunes, Mallipo and Cheollipo Arboretum

The Sinduri Coastal Sand Dune is the most unusual landscape in the park. VisitKorea says the dune is believed to have formed about 15,000 years ago, after the Ice Age, as winds carried sand inland from the beach; KNPS calls it Korea's largest coastal dune and a Natural Monument. You cannot walk across the dune itself: KNPS explains that visitors follow paths around its edge. When we checked on 2026-10-03, VisitKorea listed opening hours of 09:00–18:00 from March to October and 09:00–17:00 from November to February. Behind it, the Duung Wetland, a Ramsar site since 2007 according to KNPS, is a rare wetland formed behind a dune.

Walkers can reach Sinduri on the Bara-gil, section 1 of the Haebyeon-gil: KNPS gives 12 kilometres and about 3 hours 40 minutes from Hagampo by way of Guryepo and Meondong beaches, with a 1,004-metre barrier-free stretch at Guryepo suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. KNPS lists a city bus from Taean Bus Terminal to the Hagampo terminus.

Mallipo Beach is a C-shaped, shallow sandy bay with a pine wood behind it and an observatory for sunset views, according to VisitKorea; nearby shops offer lodging and fresh seafood, which makes it the easiest beach on this coast to base yourself. Cheollipo Beach is 2 kilometres north. Above it, the Cheollipo Arboretum was founded by Carl Ferris Miller (Min Byung-gal), whom VisitKorea calls the "blue-eyed Korean" and describes as a naturalised Korean citizen; VisitKorea notes he bought the land in 1962 and that it opened to the general public only in 2009, and its thalassotherapy feature says the magnolias peak in April. When we checked on 2026-10-03, VisitKorea listed 09:00–18:00 from March to November and 09:00–17:00 from December to February (last entry an hour before closing), with adult admission at 10,000 won from March to November and 7,000 won in winter.

This coast was hit by the Hebei Spirit oil spill in December 2007. KNPS says the Haebyeon-gil trail was created partly in response, to spread visitors beyond the summer beaches and to help the local economy recover.

Mongsanpo, the tidal flats and the middle coast

Between Taean-eup and the Anmyeondo bridge, Mongsanpo Beach is about 3 kilometres of white sand backed by a dense pine forest used for auto-camping, according to VisitKorea. At low tide the mudflats open up and families come to dig for clams and look for mud crabs; a kilometre west through a pine tunnel, Mongdaepo port has small seafood restaurants serving sliced raw fish.

The Solmorae-gil, section 4 of the Haebyeon-gil, runs from the Mongsanpo visitor centre to Deureuni port, 16 kilometres and about four hours according to KNPS, and links up with the crab bridge to Baeksajang — so a strong walker can cross from the peninsula to Anmyeondo on foot. KNPS lists intercity or city buses from Taean Bus Terminal towards Anmyeondo, getting off at Nam-myeon (about 10 minutes).

Low tide decides what you see on this coast. Check the tide table before planning a mudflat walk or a sunset at Unyeo or Kkotji, and keep to marked areas on the flats. Note too that the KNPS Taeanhaean office posted a notice on 9 September 2026 about a reservation system for park trails: check the park's page before you walk.

Two new or less obvious stops: the Taean Thalassotherapy Center on Dalsanpo Beach in Nam-myeon, which VisitKorea says opened in January 2026 with seawater pools, mud and salt treatments, and online booking from 60 days ahead; and, on Baekhwasan (258 metres) just north of Taean-eup, Taeeulam Hermitage, whose rock-carved standing Buddha triad is a National Treasure.

Getting there and around without a car

There is no railway to Taean. VisitKorea's bus guide lists Taean among the South Chungcheong destinations served from Seoul Nambu Terminal and Dong Seoul Terminal, and Taean and Anmyeondo among those from the Express Bus Terminal complex in Seoul. Check the current departures and terminal on the KOBUS and T-money bus sites that VisitKorea links, since express and intercity buses to the same town can leave from different terminals.

On the ground, local city buses leave from Taean Bus Terminal and Anmyeon Bus Terminal. KNPS's trail pages name the useful lines by destination: Wonbuk (Hagampo) for the Bara-gil and Sinduri, Sowon (Mallipo or Padori) for the west coast, and the Taean-bound bus from Anmyeon to Baeksajang. We could not confirm current timetables from an official English source, so ask at the terminal desk or call the 1330 Korea Travel Hotline before relying on a last bus.

The simplest car-free plan is one night in each town, or two nights in one: walk a trail section one way and ride back. For Cheollipo Arboretum and the beaches of southern Anmyeondo, for which KNPS's trail pages give no bus connection, a car or a taxi booked through your lodging is simpler.