• Start
•  
• Gaepyeong Hanok Village
•  
• Josaenzip
•  
• Sangrim Park
•  
• Hamiang Wine Valley
•  
• Anui Wonjo Galbee restaurant
•  
• Odojae
•  
• Seoamjeong Temple
•  
• Maum Hotel
•  
• Hyeon Restaurant
•  
• Gwanghalluwon Garden
•  
• Guryong Falls
•  
• Silsangsa Temple
•  
• Finish

You can find a beautiful park named “Sangrim Park” nearby Daejeon-Tongyeong expressway Hamyang IC. It is an artificial forest which was built to protect the banks of a river. There is a word saying, “you may forget about your hometown, but not Sangrim.” It has been loved by local people, and the representative forest of Hamyang. The park is No. 154 natural monument. Okay, here we go!

I found well organized park trail after passing the small bridge. There were few people in the daytime of the weekday. Sangrim park is the most beautiful in summer and fall. It is covered with red spider lily in fall, and lotus in winter. It is picturesque.

This is the entrance of the park in fall. The artificial pond is flowing in the middle of the park. Flowers blossom on both side of the pond.

Wow! It is Yonrimok, isn't it? Two trees with different roots grow together. Two trees with the same branch are called “Yonleejee”. Love will be forever if lovers promise their love in Yonrimok in the forest of a thousand years. According to the document, there was the same tree in the Silla period. It would be an auspicious tree.

Sangrim park has well organized trail between the dense forest. It also has flowers, cultural assets, a brook, a river, a pavilion, a stone bridge and stepping-stone.

Flowers blossom next to the trail in autumn. The name of the flower is “a sad memory”. Red flowers grow, and then leaves grow thereafter. So the flowers of red spider lily blossom together, and the leaves die back together.

I found a pavilion on the left side of the trail. It was originally the south gate of Hamyang eupseong Town Wall, and it was named “Mangangnu”. The name has been changed to “Hamwharoo”. It had the wall and the door in the past, but now it has only curved pillar.

There is an extraordinary stone Buddha. It was discovered in 1950 in the stream of Ieun-ri, Hamyang-eup. There was a temple named “Manggasa” 300 meters far from the site, so it might be washed in the flood. Two hands were vanished, and the clothes are “V” shaped. It looks like an iron Buddha. It is uncertain, but it is assumed to be a statue of the Buddha in the Goryo dynasty period. It is so distincfive.

Wow, here is another Yonrimok! There are so many Yonrimok in Sangrim park everywhere. It is so intriguing. :-)

There is another pavilion here. This is “Sawoonjeong pavilion” which was built to honor Choe Chi-won by the classical scholars of Gyeongsang provinces in 1906. The pavilion was named after Choe Chi-won. It would be more elegant with dense forest.

The park has so many cute spots. This is a bridge named “Geumhomi”. One legend has been passed down. The legend says Choe Chi-won hung a gold hoe in the forest after making Sangrim forest in the period of united Silla. The event for finding a gold hoe is held in “Cheonryeongje”, the local festival of Hamyang-gun. If you find it, please send me a picture of it. :-)

What a cozy forest! Many stories about Choe Chi-won have been passed down in Sangrim. Some people say small and insignificant creatures like a snake, an ant and a centipede do not live in this area. A legend says all of them disappeared after Choe Chi-won shouted “Minikin cannot live in Sangrim!” You should check it if you visit here. :-)

The park, which was created by Choe Chi-won 1,100 years ago, has been also called “the forest of a thousand year”. The artificial park was made to prevent the riverside from being damaged by water. It is so well-organized that you wouldn't believe that it was established in the period of united Silla.

You will find this park in a couple of days. Small brook is flowing in the middle of the forest, and the park is decorated with a living rock. A pond is created in the center of the park. It is the best rest area during the trip.

There is Harim park right under Sangrim park. When Choe Chi-won was a governor-general of Cheollyeong-gun, he built an embankment from Sangrim to Harim to prevent the loss of farmland and houses from flood, and created a forest. So Gyeongju Choe family built the memorial stone to honor him.

I like the cozy trail. There is a long trail along the riverside of Namhangang river. But it is not hard to walk since it is all flatland. What a nice forest!

Spring doesn't come yet, but I miss the red spider lily in autumn last year. This Japanese flower is common in temples. It looks even more mysterious.

Namhangang river flows below Jirisan mountain. Hamyang was once the remote area, but now it is easily accessible after Tongyeong-Daejeon expressway was open. A local civil servant made this amazing park in Hamyang.

Large scale lotus farm is made at the corner of the park. It is about 7 hectare. 300 kinds of lotus and water plants are growing in the farm. I visit here every year, and I am always satisfied with it. Why don't you walk around here if you pass Tongyeong-Daejeon expressway or Gwangju-Daegu expressway? You would feel great in the thousand years of forest.

+ Address: Gyosan-ri 1047-1, Hamyang-eup, Hamyang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do

+ Contact information: 055-960-5756

+ Admission fee, parking fee: free

Address: 경상남도 함양군 함양읍 교산리 1047-1 / 대한민국 경상남도 함양군 함양읍 교산리 1047-1