[One Day Ten Thousand Steps] The Place Paju City Benchmarked for Barefoot Walking

Gimpo City created a "Barefoot Walking Health Loess Path" in the Wild Bird Ecological Park located in Unyang-dong as part of the '2020 Gyeonggi Linear Park Development Project.' The path is 300 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, using wet loess instead of hardened loess. Since no cement was used, it has excellent elasticity and absorbency. Located within the forest along the Han River embankment, visitors can enjoy the greenery along with the path. Seven species of trees such as quince, horned melon tree, and Korean evodia, as well as 30 species of wildflowers including bleeding heart, daylily, and cluster amaryllis, were additionally planted, allowing visitors to enjoy the charm of blooming wildflowers in spring.

Considering the characteristics of wet loess, the city plans to open the path at the end of February next year and create a forest walking trail of 1.2 km that blends wildflowers and shrubs, extending from the end of the wet loess path through a community garden to the Jechon retention basin.

Kim Kyung-il, Mayor of Paju City, is walking along the bare-foot walking trail at the Hwangtotgil Path in Gimpo Linear Park to promote the creation of a barefoot walking trail.
[Photo by Paju City]

The trail and Usin Road in Jeongbalsan Park, Goyang City, were created based on a proposal from the Jeongbalsan-dong Residents' Autonomous Committee. Jeongbalsan is a low mountain with a height of 80 meters, and the trail was named "Hurest."

Kim Kyung-il, Mayor of Paju City, visited these two locations on the 8th with city officials to benchmark the creation of barefoot walking trails. Mayor Kim and the participants toured examples of barefoot walking trails that reflect the characteristics of each region and exchanged broad opinions on efficient creation and activation methods for barefoot walking trails. Mayor Kim said, "We were able to learn from the construction and management experiences of neighboring cities and understand the strengths and weaknesses of each main material," adding, "We will expand premium barefoot walking trails for citizens through in-depth reviews of many cases and expert opinions in various fields."

Mayor Kim Kyung-il of Paju is walking on the earthing road at Jeongbalsan Park in Goyang to create a barefoot walking trail.
[Photo by Paju City]

To promote barefoot walking trails, Paju City enacted the "Ordinance on the Creation of Barefoot Walking Trails for the Activation of Barefoot Walking in Paju City" in September this year and secured project funds through the Gyeonggi-do Special Adjustment Grant (including the Yulgok Arboretum Landmark Project and the Saeam Park Barefoot Forest Path Project), accelerating project implementation. Before the pilot operation scheduled for 2024, Paju City plans to hold a "Barefoot Walking Activation Policy Forum (tentative)" early next year to gather opinions from barefoot walking clubs, medical professionals, and other citizens and experts.

Based on the presented opinions, the city will conduct pilot projects targeting seven locations including forest trails near urban areas, Yulgok Arboretum, and parks. To enable various barefoot walking experiences throughout Paju City, related departments such as Forest Recreation, Tourism, Sports, and Waterfront Rivers will collaborate to promote development projects in sports parks, tourist sites, and trails.