Update: Korean River/Stream Bed Parks
8/15/2021 updates
Ansa city has two stream bed parks. the ansa canal and the Ansa lake. Both are worth a future visit. Ansa city is the most multi-cultural city in Kroea and there is now a multi-cultural resturant district which has Indian, Nepalese, Vientamese, Russian, Uzbek, Mongolia, Thai and other resturants available. Worth a trip some day.
Gimpo has a number of streams and rivers running through the city that are unnamed and undeveloped but have walking paths. Worth a future trip some day.
8/4/2021 Updates
I found a few more stream bed parks hope to explore some day.
Cheongha International City
Cheongha International City has a nice lake park similar to Songdo Central Park.
There is a stream bed that flows through most of the city, lined with biking paths but not otherwise really developed.
Yongin City
Yongin City has a nice river side park that flows through the city. Part of the stream flows through the Yongin Recreational forest which is pretty large area. It also has Tanjeon stream that flows ultimately into the River in Seoul passing through much of Gangnam district.
7/25/2021 Updates:
Dongkook University Stream Bed
I discovered another stream bed park in Seoul. It runs from Namsan Mountain through the Dongkook (Buddhist University) campus and is about a 3 kilometer mini-stream bed park lined with benches. Very pleasant looking. Easily assesible via subway, located on the road to the Namsan tunnel.
Pusan
Nakong River and DaeDaepo beach
DaeDaepo beach is located at the estuary of the Nakong river, just 8 k from downtown Busan. There is a nice walking trail along the river as well. You can get to it by subway get off at sinpyeong station or take bus number 2 or 98 from Busan station.
Ilgwan Beach near the Icheon River in Gyesang County
another beach near a river head is Ilgwan beach in Gyesang county. It is located where the river flows into the Icheon port. the nearest subway is Donghae line exit 1 then a five minute walk. or take local bus number 180, 182, or 188 and get off at ilgwang beach stop.
Suyeong River trail and Gwangalli Beach, Busan
at the end of the Suyeong River trail you will find a nice beach, Gwangalli beach. to get there take subway line 2 to Gwanggan or Geumyeonsan Station and walk about five minutes.
Songpa Trail opens 21 k long course along three streams
Korea Times: July 8, 2021
When thinking of Songpa District in Seoul, images of large apartment complexes and skyscrapers may come to mind. But the district’s network of walking trails, named Songpa Trail or Songpa Dullegil in Korean, is a hidden treasure of the area, created along four streams flowing through its landscape.
Songpa has had three walking courses along Seongnae and Jangji streams as well as the Han River, and the district office opened another one recently along Tan Stream, which had been off-limits for the last 51 years.
Now with the trail along the Tan Stream added, a 21.2-kilometer-long circuit has been created.
“We wanted to create walking paths or parks that residents can access in five minutes from their home and relax at any time,” said Park Sung-soo, head of Songpa District Office.
Each course of Songpa Trail has different things to see and enjoy, including a rice farming experience center, bird observatories, cherry blossom roads, a forest playground for children and Jamsil Hangang Park.
The circular course take walkers to attractions in the district such as Mongchon Earthen Fortress, Seokchon-dong Ancient Tombs, Bangi Wetland and Lotte World Tower.
A bird is spotted on Seongnae Stream, one of three streams surrounding Songpa District, Seoul. Courtesy of Yim Hong-soon |
“Walking along rivers, lakes, and wetlands, you can also find ecological resources that are usually found in the countryside, such as kestrels, white-necked plovers and otters,” Park said.
Not everything has gone well for creating the trail since the basic plan to refurbish the Tan Stream section was prepared in October 2018.
Public access to the Tan Stream section had been restricted due to embankments and roadways. In addition, the area was designated as an ecological conservation area in 2002 for rare birds and endangered species.
Since announcing the plan, the district office underwent briefing sessions for residents twice, and consulted experts in environmental science, birds and landscaping. Through this process, it sought ways for residents to use the trails while preserving nature.
An entry into the Tan Stream Course of Songpa Trail in Songpa District, Seoul. Courtesy of Songpa District Office |
“We sought to create a nature-friendly walking path without damaging the conservation area,” Park said.
So in the Tan Stream section, bicycles are prohibited, nighttime access is restricted and streetlamps give off weaker light, in order to protect the birds and amphibians in the area.
Residents’ voluntary participation in the creation of the trail is also notable, with those in 15 neighborhoods of the district organizing groups named Guardians to protect the environment of the streams.
The district office said it is preparing various events for residents, including a walking marathon and autumn foliage festival. Ecological exploration programs will also be prepared especially in the newly opened Tan Stream course.
Park said he plans to continue linking the Songpa Trail with other tourist attractions, traditional markets and shops to revitalize the local economy.
“We will make Songpa Trail as a place where visitors can have unique memories, and residents can enjoy a quality daily life,” he said.
Letter to National Parks Director, Minister of Tourism, and KT
One of the little-known gems of Korean tourism is all the great river parks and stream bed parks throughout Korea. Getting information on these parks in English is frustrating, only a few of them have any information in English. There are no English language maps available online and very little information. The stream bed parks and river parks are managed by local and provincial governments. Some have extensive facilities; many have no facilities other than a walking/bike trail.
I believe it is time for the Korean National parks service to take over managing these stream bed and river parks for the benefit of all Koreans, hence they would be a welcomed addition to the national park service. Promoting them to the national park service would also promote them in both the local and international media.
Once the park service takes it over, they should standardize services across the river/streambed parks.
There should be a web page on these river and stream bed parks in a standard format, including history, trail map, nearby attractions (with links), and transportation/directions (in Korean and target language). The rest of the national parks should also be listed in the same manner. The web page and the KNP web page should be in multiple languages but at the very least in Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Vietnamese, Thai, Hindi, and Spanish. The transportation section should always be in Korean and the target language. The web page should also link to the national forest park, provincial and city parks, and hiking trails throughout the country. The goal should be one web page with information on all the outdoor recreational activities available in Korea. And they should all follow the same format.
Each river/streambed park should be stocked with fish, turtles, and frogs. Fishing should be encouraged. The fish stocked should consist of Korean trout, water ell, and other indigenous fish. Harvesting of frogs should be legal, but not turtles.
Each river/streambed park should be lined with restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, fishing supply shops, bike, and boat rental places with views of the river and stream. The restaurants would grill fish and frogs caught in the river and stream.
Each park would have signs and maps in four languages (Korean, English/Chinese/Japanese) throughout the park. The langague could be taken off the web page to be consistent throughout the system.
The parks would be free and open 24/7. there would be sufficient lighting and ccv cameras everywhere to deter criminal conduct.
boats, bikes and fishing equipment would be available for rent at an affordable price.
boating should be allowed on the deeper streams. and water taxi/ferries could be run along the deepest streams and tributaries of the river and up and down the Han river. Revenus from opperations of the water taxi and ferry service would be split between the companies and the park service.
The model should be the Golden waterway in Gimpo.
Rental income should be devoted to the maintenance of the park. Any extra income would be sent to the NPS general maintenance fund.
Each river/stream bed park should have a citizen advisory committee consisting of representatives of the businesses in the park, and nearby citizens. The committee should advise the park service of issues related to that park and should sponsor clean the park drives once a quarter and offer volunteer conservation activities. local schools should adopt a river or streambed park and carry out conservation activities and nature study programs in the river/streambed. Nearby busineses should also be encoruaged to adopt a river/streambed park and encourage volunater consdervation projects in the parks. representative of the school and firms adopting a park would of course serve on the advisory committee This model could be extended to every park in the country.
For those streambed parks in Seoul and elsewhere they should be extended to run into the Han River. Those in Incheon should either run into the Han River or the west sea. All other streambed parks should be extended so they flow into the nearest big river.
The Han River Park system should be extended to the headwaters of the Han River. a similar walking/bike trail system should be extended to all the major rivers in Korea. All the river trails should be linked to each other and to the nearby streambed parks as part of the national river walk trail system.
The should be annual marathon races along with the bigger stream and river parks.
Even if the NPS does not upgrade these river/streambed parks into the newest national park, the NPS should at least upgrade their web page as discussed above.
Finally, these parks could be admistered as “wild Rivers” following the sucess of the National Wild Rivers Act in the U.S. which created a framework for preserving wild rivers as special parks under the purview of the National Park Service. A similar act protects natural beaches across the country.
end letter
will post an update if i get any response.
Updated information below on Yeongjaecheon stream based on a Kindle booklet about the stream.
Over the last decade, Korea has build hundreds of stream bed parks throughout Seoul and Korea. There are great places to take a walk, to observe wild life, to enjoy nature in the city. There is some information in English on these parks but not enough. For those readers in Korea, please feel free to send me info on other stream bed parks, so I can update this from time to time.
The most famous one is the one that started it all. Cheongjejon in down town Seoul.
Cheonggyecheon Stream
It is the prototype perhaps of stream restoration.
SEOUL, South Korea For half a century, a dark tunnel of crumbling concrete encased more than three miles of a placid stream bisecting this bustling city.
The waterway had been a centerpiece of Seoul since a king of the Choson Dynasty selected the new capital 600 years ago, enticed by the graceful meandering of the stream and its 23 tributaries. But in the industrial era after the Korean War, the stream, by then a rank open sewer, was entombed by pavement and forgotten beneath a lacework of elevated expressways as the city’s population swelled toward 10 million.
Today, after a $384 million recovery project, the stream, called Cheonggyecheon, is liberated from its dank sheath and burbles between reedy banks. Picnickers cool their bare feet in its filtered water, and carp swim in its tranquil pools.
The restoration of the Cheonggyecheon is part of an expanding environmental effort in cities around the world to “daylight” rivers and streams by peeling back pavement that was built to bolster commerce and serve automobile traffic decades ago.
Some political opponents have derided Seoul’s remade stream as a costly folly, given that nearly all of the water flowing between its banks on a typical day is pumped there artificially from the Han River through seven miles of pipe.
It is lined with restaurants and cafes, and has a boat house where you can rent boats to go out on the water. The cost is 20,000 per hour. a popular boat choice is the moon boat, which is a boat shaped like a crescent moon that is ideal for a couple to take out on the water. There are also family boats and paddle boats for individuals. There are also bikes for rent.
[4K] Beautiful evening walk along Laveniche March Avenue in Gimpo Korea Tour 김포 한강신도시 장기동 라베니체 저녁 걷기
오늘은 경기도 김포한강신도시에 위치한 라베니체 마치 에비뉴의 저녁을 함께 걸어봅시다. 깨끗해진 공기 만큼이나 아름다운 노을을 계속 볼 수 있기를 희망합니다.아침 7시, 당신을 위한 새로운 영상이 공개 됩니다.
당신의 새로운 아침, 그리고 오후 저녁 저의 영상을 보며 한결 여유로운 하루의 시작과 마무리가 되었으면 하는 바램입니다. 최대한 다채롭고 흥미로운 영상을 즐기실 수 있도록 노력하겠습니다.영상이 마음에 드셨다면 좋아요, 구독, 알림 설정 부탁드립니다.
그럼 오늘도 행복한 하루 되세요!Hello all my friends, I’m Nathan from Seoul Walker.
Today, let’s walk together at Laveniche March Avenue in Hangang River New City, Gimpo, Gyeonggi-do.Ravenice March Avenue is a themed canal street created by Venetian motifs on a total of 33,000 m² waterfront commercial areas in total of 26 parcels around the golden waterway, which is an artificial waterway in the Han River New City of Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province. It is a commercial facility.
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