Seoul Will Lend You Hiking Boots — Free

Last verified: 2026-09-15. Rules and prices change — always confirm on the official site before you travel.

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Seoul will lend a foreign visitor hiking boots and a jacket for free. Not a discount, not a rental-shop rate — the city government runs three centers that hand out hiking gear at no charge to anyone who isn’t Korean, five minutes from three separate trailheads.

This isn’t a one-off pilot at a single mountain. It’s a Seoul Metropolitan Government program, run by the Seoul Tourism Organization, and it exists at three trailheads.

Not just Bukhansan — three centers

The Bukhansan center opened first, in September 2022, and Bugaksan followed in April 2024, with Gwanaksan starting as a pilot that November. Two weeks after Gwanaksan opened, the city had already counted 27,612 total visits across the three centers combined, with foreign visitors making up roughly 40% of that — evidence the program found an audience fast, even if that specific count is now dated.

Bukhansan

52 Samyang-ro 173-gil, Gangbuk-gu, 5F · 5 min from Bukhansan-ui Station (Ui LRT) Exit 2 · opened Sept 2022 · 12 kinds of gear

Bugaksan

Samcheong-dong, inside a traditional hanok near Gwanghwamun and Gyeongbokgung · opened Apr 2024 · 17 kinds of gear, including umbrellas and camping chairs

Gwanaksan

Inside Gwanaksan Station (Sillim Line), B1F · opened Nov 2024 · 8 kinds of gear

Bugaksan’s location is worth a second look on its own: the center sits inside a hanok in Samcheong-dong, and the trail above it looks out over the former Blue House and the Bugak Skyway — a night view most gear-rental counters anywhere in the world cannot claim.

None of Korea’s other hiking regions on this site — Seoraksan, Hallasan, Jirisan, Songnisan — have anything like this yet. It is, for now, a Seoul program only.

What’s actually free

Hiking boots and hiking clothing are free, full stop, for foreign visitors — that’s the headline the Seoul city government leads with, and it’s the part every source agrees on. Lockers inside the center, changing rooms and showers (bring your own towel) are also free.

Where sources start to disagree is everything past that: trekking poles, gloves and crampons (아이젠) are also stocked, and older pilot-period write-ups from 2022–2023 described small per-item fees for extras, while the city’s current pages describe the whole rental as free. Treat “boots and clothes: free” as confirmed, and confirm anything beyond that at booking — prices and item lists are exactly the kind of detail that changes without this page knowing about it.

How to book

Each center takes walk-ins — staff will help you pick gear on the spot — but Seoul’s own advice is to reserve up to two days ahead online, since sizes run out. All three centers book through Klook:

Before you go

• Hours: 09:00–18:00 at all three centers.
• Closed: Bukhansan is closed Mondays; the other two centers close on a different weekday each (check at booking), and all three close on Seollal and Chuseok.
• Return by 16:30. Gear has to come back to the center the same day, before closing — plan your hike around that, not around 18:00.
• Nothing here is insured. The centers say so directly: if you’re worried about an accident on the trail, that’s on personal or mountain insurance, not the rental.
• Korean visitors can use the lockers but not the rental gear — the boots-and-clothes service is specifically for foreign visitors (and Koreans hiking as part of a foreign visitor’s group).
• Bring a way to get online. Booking, the Klook confirmation and Naver or Kakao Map to find the center all need data — our eSIM comparison covers the options, and Klook sells the most common one as an installable QR code.

Checked 15 September 2026. Program history, opening dates, per-center gear counts and the November 2024 visitor count from a Seoul Metropolitan Government press release dated 25 November 2024. Free boots-and-clothing policy, hours, return time and insurance notice from the official Seoul travel guide and each center’s own reservation listing on Klook (linked above). Bukhansan center address and transit access corroborated by VisitKorea. Item counts change with what’s in stock — this page describes the program, not a live inventory.