Mureunggyegok Valley, Donghae

This is a valley about 4 km long, set against the backdrop of Dutasan and Cheongoksan Mountains in Donghae. It unfolds a variety of landforms — the broad Mureung Banseok rock, spacious enough to seat hundreds of people, along with Hoamso Pool, Seonnyeotang Pool, Janggun Bawi (General Rock), Ssangpok (Twin Falls) and Yongchupokpo Falls — and its scenery is so beautiful that it has been called 'the finest landscape on the east coast.' The name Mureunggyegok is said to have been given by Kim Hyo-won, magistrate of Samcheok, during the Joseon period, and it is said that Yi Seung-hyu, known by his pen name Dongan geosa, lived here during the Goryeo period and wrote the Jewang ungi. On the Mureung Banseok rock, covering some 1,500 pyeong (a traditional unit of area, each about 3.3 m²), are carved the calligraphy of Yang Sa-eon (pen name Bongnae), one of the Joseon dynasty's four great calligraphers, together with poems by Kim Si-seup (pen name Maewoldang) and many other poets and literati, showing that this was both a place of refined leisure and a place of self-cultivation for scholars of old. The waterfalls and oddly-shaped crags formed where the rock has split apart are distinctive, and in particular Ssangpok, formed where the rock splits in two directions, and the pool below Yongchupokpo Falls, shaped by cliffs split along an east–west line, create an unusual scenery. In this way Mureunggyegok displays landforms typical of granite erosion and deposition, giving it very high geological value as well.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Donghae, Gangwon

Designation

Scenic Site · 명승