Damyang Bamboo and Metasequoia

Getting to the start

No train reaches Damyang. Most people take the KTX to Gwangju Songjeong and change to a local or intercity bus; there is also a direct express bus from Seoul Central City. Juknokwon and the metasequoia avenue are too far apart to walk between, so use a bus or a taxi for that leg.

The route

1. 1

   Juknokwon Bamboo Forest

   Damyang · 1h 30m

   The quickest way to understand why Damyang is called bamboo country. Eight paths thread through the grove, and any of them loops back in thirty minutes to an hour. The entrance is a flight of steps and leaves you short of breath; above that it levels out. When the wind moves, the stems knock together and the sound does not stop.

   Official site →
2. Bus10m

   Take a bus or a taxi from in front of Juknokwon. On foot it is over forty minutes and the pavement gives out in places, so it is not worth it. The avenue is 2km there and back — leave yourself about an hour.

   2

   Metasequoia-lined Road

   Hakdong-ri, Damyang · 1h

   Metasequoias planted as street trees in the 1970s have grown until they arch over from both sides. It was a national highway until a bypass took the traffic, leaving it to walkers. The avenue runs about 2km, an hour there and back. In summer the canopy closes into shade; in late autumn the needles turn rust and then drop. The central stretch charges admission.

   

Map

• Juknokwon Bamboo Forest →
• Metasequoia-lined Road →

Good to do next

• Asia Culture Center and Yangnim-dongGwangju · Full day

  See a vast cultural centre buried underground, then walk a hillside of red-brick missionary houses. The 1980 uprising is layered into both.

• Gwanghalluwon, NamwonNamwon · Half day

  A garden built as the Milky Way brought down to earth: three islands in a pond and an arched stone bridge across. Also where the Chunhyang story begins.