Gapyeong, South Korea

This area is famous for Nami Island, a tourist attraction for South Koreans and film set to a Korean Drama, though pretty much everywhere beautiful has been the set of at least one drama. Nami Island has a ferry, but also boasts one of the longest ziplines in Asia. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to Nami Island. The Gapyeong region has so much to offer that it’s truly hard to pick. It’s also worth mentioning my mom’s classic favorite complaint: “But they’re so close on the map!” They were not in fact close in reality.

The region has four major attractions: Nami Island, Gangchon Rail Bike, Le Petite France, and the Garden of Morning Calm. Nami Island is a picturesque strolling destination. There are cultural sites on the island, as well as art galleries and boat rides. The rail bike offers a unique, scenic trek into the South Korean country side on an old railway. Le Petite France is a French-inspired “theme park” village with cute architecture and exhibits. The Garden of Morning Calm is a beautifully landscaped Korean garden.

Asian theme parks have been hit or miss for me personally, and David and I have done an exceeding amount of hiking this trip, so we decided on the Gangchon Rail Bike and the Garden of Morning Calm. I can see why people pay for tour packages to do multiple attractions in a short time. While they’re all in the same region, it’s actually quite time consuming to get to each by public transportation. That being said, this was one of my favorite adventures we went on while in South Korea.

I know there isn’t anything particularly spectacular about rail bikes, but I love them. To be fair, I love any bike operated vehicle, and have grandiose dreams of building my own someday. So, a chance to ride along a retired railway in the countryside sounded like a wonderful opportunity. I didn’t do much reading about it beforehand, so I didn’t realize that each of the tunnels along the trail had been dressed up with interesting decorations and music. It was also nice for a day to get out of the droll of the city. Unlike other cities I’ve been to, much of Seoul had the nasty habit of copying and pasting the same high rises in chunks, which can make for quite a dystopian experience. The countryside was serene and magical. We went over rivers winding through farm fields. It was breathtaking.

It was also magical for other reasons:

Biking deep in the mountains when out of the corner of his eye - could it be? - it was glistening and off-white. He reached back, muscles straining under the weight of obligation, and punched me in the bicep. It emerged slowly from the tall farm field grasses... An eggshell Volkswagen Beetle. Final score: 3 to 1. A glorious 1.

I have no idea if people still play “Punch Buggy.” ChatGPT has informed me this game is also called “Slug Bug” and I have never heard that in my entire life. David loves it. I’m not sure how I feel about it.

After the biking portion is complete, a cute “love train” takes riders back to the start of the experience. The Gangchon Rail Bike center itself has a small café and several cute Instagram perfect backdrops, from rows of giant books to a stairway shaded by colorful umbrellas, which many Korean business seem to have. Koreans really seem to like their photo ops.

After that, we made our way to the garden, which was apparently the last tourist attraction in the area and geographically maybe the hardest to get to. It was well worth it, however. Nestled into the mountains of Korea, like everything if I’m being honest, is a huge orchestrated garden. The Garden of Morning Calm was originally established in 1996 as a private garden by a professor of landscape architecture, Han Sang-kyung. It was later expanded into a public attraction with a Korean garden, a wildflower garden, and a tranquil pond area. It’s approximately 330,000 square meters and even has a suspension bridge across. While it didn’t have the zipline that Nami Island had or the interesting architecture of Le Petit France, I’m glad we chose the gardens. The Korean Garden area was especially majestic.

The United States has large swaths of old rails and has just really begun converting them to something more usable. Unlike South Korea, the old railways aren’t being turned into rail bike attractions. Many of them are being converted into multi-use trails. This may have been what originally drew me to the Gangchon Rail Trail, or why I’m sure a certain search engine may have prioritized it as a search result knowing it would catch my eye. I have an absolute love of rail trails. I love distance hiking and am hoping to get into distance biking; the gentle slopes and clear corridors of rail trails make them ideal for trekking. The US does have a couple rail bike experiences, like Pennsylvania Rail Bike, the price is more than four times what it was in South Korea and the experience is quite different. I am more excited by the Rails to Trails program, run by the national nonprofit Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. They are also responsible for one of my favorite efforts in existence and for all time… the Great American Rail Trail. If it is ever completed, I don’t think there is anything like it anywhere in Asia. There are other great trails, like the Trans Canada Trail or the EuroVelo, but those are both networks of trails, roads, and paths. They dwarf the size of Convervancy’s proposed trail, but it’s not nearly the same experience. Closer would be the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail which follows a former railway in Australia, but that trail is only about 100 kilometers or 62 miles long.

If I haven’t talked your ear off about it yet, the Great American Rail Trail is a proposal of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy to create a 4,000 mile or 6,400 kilometer multi-use trail across the United States utilizing mostly former railway corridors. The purpose is to promote tourism and outdoor recreation, featuring the diverse landscapes of the US. Many trails already exist and the proposal includes almost 40% existing infrastructure. Unfortunately, the Conservancy estimates it will take over another decade to complete, and states like Wyoming and Montana have no existing infrastructure and few plans for it, while all other states involved already have existing trails and plans for future trails. It is my dream that before I am too infirm to bike, the trail reaches completion, and I can bike across the entire country. A girl can dream.

Want to learn more? https://www.railstotrails.org/