Nineteen kilometers is a long day for anyone, but my friend Doyoon had just signed up for a spring marathon and wanted a long training walk, so we combined two Gamnaetgil sections — Course 8-1 and 8-2 — into one continuous outing from Hoedong Reservoir all the way down the Suyeong River to Millak Bridge. It turned into one of the better full-day walks we’ve done, mixing quiet forest trail with an entirely different urban river walk in the second half.
We started at Sanghyeon village, on the reservoir’s edge, where a large trailhead map lays out both courses 7 and 8 side by side — useful if you’re trying to decide how much distance to commit to before you start.
The trailhead map at Sanghyeon village, showing Courses 7 and 8.
Route order
Course 8-1: around Hoedong Reservoir
The first half follows the reservoir’s edge before climbing gently through forest past Bueongsan and Ttangmoe-san — nothing steep, just a steady, pleasant elevation gain through pine woods. Late January had left patches of ice on the shaded parts of the trail, so we picked our footing carefully in a few spots, but the reservoir views made up for the slow going. Hoedong Reservoir supplies part of Busan’s drinking water, and you can see the intake infrastructure near Myeongjang water treatment plant, where the trail briefly runs close to the facility before curving back into open path.
We crossed Dongdae Bridge and continued to Dongcheon Bridge — also known locally as Seokdae Bridge — which marks the end of Course 8-1 and, without a real break, the start of 8-2.
Course 8-2: down the Suyeong River
The character of the walk changes completely here. Instead of forest and reservoir, you’re now following the Suyeong River through a much more urban stretch of Busan, crossing Wondong Bridge, Suyeong 4 Bridge, and Jwasuyeong Bridge in succession. It’s flat, fast walking — after the morning’s climbs, this section felt almost like a cooldown, which worked out well for Doyoon’s training purposes.
APEC Naru Park, toward the end of the route, is a pleasant surprise — landscaped riverside park space that’s clearly popular with local families and joggers, even on a cold January afternoon. From there it’s a short final stretch to Millak Bridge, where both courses officially end.
Nineteen kilometers, one day
By the time we reached Millak Bridge we’d been walking for roughly six and a half hours including stops — legitimately tired, but in the specific, satisfied way that comes from a long day covering real ground. If you’re training for something, or just want to see how a forested reservoir trail and an urban river walk connect to each other, doing both courses back to back is a genuinely good way to spend a full day in Busan.
Trail info at a glance
- Distance: approx. 19 km combined (11 km for 8-1, 8 km for 8-2)
- Walking time: 6–7 hours combined; each half can be done separately in 2–4 hours
- Difficulty: Easy to moderate — gentle forest climbs on 8-1, flat urban river path on 8-2
- Start: Sanghyeon village, Hoedong Reservoir
- Midpoint: Dongcheon (Seokdae) Bridge — a natural place to split the walk into two days
- Finish: Millak Bridge
Map of the route
Two courses in one day
A few practical notes
Before this stretch, Gamnaetgil runs through the old center of Dongnae — see our Course 7-3: A History Walk Through Old Dongnae for that section.
If nineteen kilometers sounds like too much in one go, Dongcheon Bridge is a genuinely convenient split point with bus access back to the city — treat 8-1 and 8-2 as two separate half-day walks if you’d rather. In winter, watch your footing on the shaded forest sections of 8-1, where ice can linger for days after cold snaps. The second half, along the Suyeong River, is entirely flat and fine in regular shoes.
For more on connecting Gamnaetgil sections with Busan’s public transport, see our guide to getting around Busan.
Walked in late January, cold with icy patches on shaded trail sections — a long single-day combination of two courses rather than the usual one-course walk.
More walks nearby
Other walks in Northern hills: Beombangsan to Hoedong Reservoir on this site: