[One Day Walk] The Premium Trail 'Guro Ollegil' Embracing Nature and the City as One

Today's 10,000-step course is the "Premium Guro Olle-gil" in Guro-gu, Seoul. Guro-gu features green spaces such as Maebongsan, Gaewoongsan, and Pureun Arboretum, with the Anyangcheon, Dorimcheon, and Mokgamcheon streams flowing through it. Alongside this, Guro-gu is home to the Seoul Digital Industrial Complex, gathering numerous large and small IT companies. What unites the seemingly contrasting elements of nature and the urban environment is the Premium Guro Olle-gil. The Guro Olle-gil was created to provide residents with a better walking environment by connecting broken paths and improving inconvenient walking areas, utilizing existing routes closely linked to pedestrian living zones. Construction began at the end of 2011, establishing a total of 9 courses across 3 types?4 forest-type, 3 river-type, and 2 urban-type?spanning 28.5 km, with the entire route opening in May 2014.

Guro Ollegil Forest Course

Each type has its own charm, but today’s introduction focuses on the forest-type courses. The forest-type consists of 4 courses totaling 10.5 km. Walking along Course 1, which starts at Gyenam Neighborhood Park, you can lightly begin with a short route while exploring Guro’s history through sites like Yeogye Cemetery and dolmens. After completing Course 1, it’s time to fully enjoy the forest-type courses. Course 2 begins at Sparrows Park, the entrance to Maebongsan, which is also famous as a sunrise viewing spot. As you ascend Maebongsan, you can experience the scents of the forest, the cool mountain breeze, and sunlight filtering through the leaves?engaging all your senses and feeling closer to nature than Course 1, true to the forest-type character.

Next, head to Course 3, which stretches from Onsu Station to Cheonwang Middle School. If you want to forget the busy urban life and relax without traveling far, this course comes highly recommended. Along this route, you encounter the Cheonwangsan Together Forest Trail, Pureun Arboretum, and Hangdong Railway Path. The Together Forest Trail was inspired by the book "Together Forest" by the late Professor Shin Young-bok of Sungkonghoe University. Viewing the calligraphy and paintings installed along the forest path feels like visiting an outdoor gallery in nature.

Additionally, the Hangdong Railway Path offers a nostalgic atmosphere, making you feel as if you have left the city and moved to the countryside. Metasequoia trees tower on both sides, and the simple station named "Hangdong Railway Station," benches shaped like railway tracks, and inscriptions on the railway sleepers add charm to the long railway path. Right next to the railway path is the Pureun Arboretum, covering about 200,000 square meters, featuring 20 themed gardens, over 1,400 plant species, and the Hangdong Reservoir, making it a recommended outing spot for families, couples, and friends. Last year, the Pureun Library was opened inside the arboretum, providing another attraction. The final Course 4 embraces Gaewoongsan and is the shortest among the forest-type courses. Although it is a mountain, it is neither high nor steep, so walking it lightly like a neighborhood trail allows you to finish the forest-type courses with nature filling your heart.

If you want to briefly escape daily life and feel the blowing breeze, the fresh scent of the air, and the soft dirt path, take a walk along the forest-type course of the Premium Guro Olle-gil, a healing spot in the city.