K-hiking is rapidly emerging as a new tourism trend among domestic and international tourists, riding the wave of the "healthy pleasure" craze that prioritizes wellness.
According to the "2026 Hiking Experience and Hiking Culture Perception Survey" recently conducted by market research firm Embrain Trend Monitor on 1,000 adult men and women aged 19 to 69 nationwide, the hiking experience rate within the past year reached 66.9%.
Respondents who said they had gone hiking this year accounted for 45.4%, while 21.5% said they had not hiked this year but did so last year. Of all respondents, 58.8% said the hiking population had grown noticeably. Participation increased particularly among those in their 20s and 30s, with about 40% of them citing "the spread of social media verification culture" as their reason for starting to hike.
Achasan Station Users Jump 22% in One Year
The popularity of K-hiking is also reflected in subway ridership figures. Seoul Metro announced on Tuesday that ridership at subway stations serving as hiking hubs has risen by up to 22% with the arrival of spring. The findings are based on a survey of Dobongsan, Surak-san, Achasan, Gyeongbokgung, Yangjae and Seoul National University stations.
On Saturday, the 11th, daily ridership at the six stations totaled 270,623, up 11.5% from 242,618 on Saturday, April 12 last year.
The increase was most pronounced at Achasan Station. Ridership there climbed 21.9% to 33,600 on the 11th, up from 27,566 on April 12 last year.
Dobongsan Station, near Bukhansan, rose 16.6%, while Surak-san Station gained 12.7%. Gyeongbokgung Station, the gateway to Inwangsan and Bugaksan, increased 12.8%. Yangjae Station, where hikers headed to Cheonggyesan gather, saw ridership rise 6.6%, and Seoul National University Station, the gateway to Gwanaksan, grew 8.8%.
The corporation explained that the increase appears to stem from a combination of seasonal spring factors and the recent establishment of hiking as a leisure activity, particularly among younger generations.
Another factor is that hiking tourism to Seoul's mountains, including Bukhansan, has recently taken hold as experiential content among foreign tourists. Last year, 2,050,897 foreigners visited national parks, according to the Korea National Park Service.
"With the increase in outdoor activities in spring, ridership tends to concentrate at specific stations such as hiking hubs," said Ma Hae-geun, head of the operations division at Seoul Metro. "Based on transportation data, we will strengthen congestion management and safety responses by deploying additional safety personnel and enhancing announcements."
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