By late October the silver grass along the Nakdong River turns Samnak Park into one of Busan’s better-kept secrets, and my friend Hana had been sending me photos of it for a week straight before I finally agreed to go see it in person. We picked Gamnaetgil Course 6-1 for the trip — a 13-kilometer riverside walk from Hadan Station to Gupo Station that runs almost entirely through parkland.
We started at Hadan Station, ducking through one of the underpasses near the river to avoid the main road traffic — the walls there are painted with a mural of birds in flight, a small detail that made the transition from subway station to riverside trail feel less abrupt.
The mural-painted underpass near Hadan Station, on the way down to the river.
Route order
Estuary barrage to the produce market
From the underpass it’s a short walk to the Nakdong River Estuary Barrage, where the trail proper begins — the sky was a sharp, cloudless blue, and the water on both sides of the barrage caught the light in a way that made us stop for photos more than once. The path along here is wide and flat, popular with both walkers and cyclists, so we kept to the right and let faster traffic pass.
Past the barrage, the trail skirts Eomgung, home to a large wholesale produce market that’s been operating in this spot for decades. It’s not a scenic stop exactly, but it’s a working part of the city that most visitors never see, and the smell of the day’s deliveries drifting over from the market stalls is its own kind of local color.
Samnak Ecological Park in full autumn color
This is the section we’d really come for. Samnak Ecological Park opens up along the riverbank in a series of wide meadows, and by late October the silver grass here is genuinely spectacular — tall stands of it catching the wind in waves, backlit gold in the late afternoon sun. We weren’t the only ones who’d had the idea; families, couples, and photographers with serious camera gear were all out walking the same paths.
We stopped at a lookout point near the park entrance where the wetlands spread out toward the river, then wandered through a section of reed beds before crossing back onto the main path. A cycling-and-pedestrian bridge nearby gave us a wide view back over the whole park — worth the small detour if you don’t mind a short climb.
The long straightaway to Gupo
After Samnak Park the trail runs along Samnak IC and settles into a longer, quieter stretch of river path before eventually reaching Gupo — historically one of Busan’s old river ports, and now a busy transit hub where the walk ends at Gupo Station. We finished as the light was starting to go golden, tired in the pleasant way you get from a flat walk with good company and better scenery.
Trail info at a glance
- Distance: approx. 13 km
- Walking time: 4–4.5 hours at a relaxed pace
- Difficulty: Easy — flat riverside path the entire way
- Start: Hadan Station (Busan Metro Line 1)
- Finish: Gupo Station (Busan Metro Line 3)
- Best season: Autumn, specifically mid-to-late October, for the silver grass at Samnak Ecological Park
Map of the route
Course 6-1 route
A few practical notes
If the silver grass is the reason you’re doing this walk, aim for the back half of October — a week or two either side can make a real difference in how full the grass looks. Weekends get busy at Samnak Park specifically, so if you want quieter photos, an early weekday start helps. The whole route is flat and shares space with cyclists, so it’s an easy one to do in regular sneakers rather than hiking shoes.
Both ends of this route sit on Busan’s subway network, which makes it one of the simplest Gamnaetgil sections to reach — see our guide to getting around Busan for the wider subway map if you’re linking this walk to other parts of the city.
Walked in late October under clear autumn skies, timed specifically for the silver grass season at Samnak Park.
More walks nearby
Other walks in Nakdong River, Gangseo and Gadeokdo on this site: