[One Day Ten Thousand Steps] Walking Path Expanded Sixfold to 591km... Jeonbuk Declared 'Eco Healing No.1 Zone'

Jeonbuk borders Hadong-gun, Hamyang-gun, Geochang-gun, and Gimcheon-si in Gyeongnam to the southeast, and to the south, it is adjacent to Yeonggwang-gun, Jangseong-gun, Damyang-gun, Gokseong-gun, and Gurye-gun in Jeonnam. To the north, it touches Geumsan-gun, Nonsan-si, Buyeo-gun, Seocheon-gun in Chungnam, and Yeongdong-gun in Chungbuk. It boasts a natural environment including Jirisan, Moaksan, Deogyusan, Unjangsan, tidal flats along the west coast, and plains where the horizon can be seen uniquely on the Korean Peninsula. Jeonbuk Province has carefully selected 3 to 4 premium walking travel routes in each of its 14 cities and counties, naming them the ‘Jeonbuk Cheonrigil’. These routes are categorized into coastal paths, riverside paths, mountain paths, and lakeside paths, allowing visitors to experience the diverse charms of Jeonbuk by walking for as short as two to three hours or as long as five to six hours. Currently, 44 routes totaling 405 km are open.

Guryong Waterfall in Namwon [Photo by Jeonbuk Province]

The Gunsan Guseulmoe-gil is a trail that climbs Cheongamsan while overlooking lush bamboo and a colony of royal willows along the Ok-san Reservoir embankment. The Namwon Guryong Waterfall Circular Trail features a wooden bridge where visitors can enjoy the vigorous sound of Guryong Waterfall and the gorge waters below their feet. The Muju Geumgang Riverside Masil-gil Course 1 allows walkers to stroll along the picturesque pine-decorated Geumgang River and cool off by dipping their feet in the shallow water.

On July 24, at the Jeonbuk Provincial Government Large Conference Room, Governor Kim Kwan-young, city and county heads, related organizations, and over 120 experts held the proclamation ceremony for "Eco Healing No.1 Jeollabuk-do" and performed a ceremony.
[Photo by Jeonbuk Province]

Jeonbuk Province has launched the ‘Eco Healing No.1 Jeollabuk-do’ project to revitalize stay-type ecological tourism by utilizing the rich ecological environment assets and historical cultural resources in the eastern region of the province. The ‘Eco Healing No.1 Jeollabuk-do’ project aims to overcome the crisis of regional extinction and promote local economic vitality by connecting ecological tourism resources, which have been developed as ‘points’, into ‘lines’ and expanding them into ‘areas’ to activate stay-type ecological exploration.

To achieve balanced development in the eastern region, which has been relatively neglected compared to the western region, the province has designated the eastern mountain area as the first phase target and plans to invest a total of 1.1344 trillion KRW in 28 projects across five sectors by 2033. The budget by sector includes 35.5 billion KRW for the creation of the Eco Camping Samcheonri Trail, 410 billion KRW for representative projects in the eastern mountain area, 185.8 billion KRW for premium development of the three major river sources, 498.8 billion KRW for ecological healing trekking, and 4.3 billion KRW for village coexistence trails.

[Source=Jeonbuk Province]

According to Jeonbuk Province’s plan, by the 2030s, walking and bicycle paths in the eastern mountain area will expand approximately sixfold from the current 93 km to 591 km. The number of campsites will increase from 15 to 30, and forest and ecological tourism sites will grow from 20 to 50 locations.

Governor Kim Gwan-young said, "Since the eastern region of Jeonbuk has abundant clean ecological resources, connecting and expanding these ecological capitals will not only satisfy the social demand for a resilient era but also place us at the center of it. We will actively support the development of the eastern region into the No.1 eco healing area to respond to the future era of 10 million related population, overcome the crisis of regional extinction, and lead balanced development."