Korea expands free hiking gear rentals across national parks

Visitors rent hiking equipment at a national park support center. Courtesy of Korea National Park Service

Hikers heading into Korea’s rugged national parks this summer will no longer need to arrive fully equipped, as the government sharply expands a free safety gear rental program aimed at preventing mountain accidents before they happen.

The Korea National Park Service said Wednesday that it had expanded its free hiking equipment rental service to all 20 mountain-based national parks across the country, up from 12 parks last year.

Beginning this month, the service added eight more parks, including Naejangsan, Gayasan, Juwangsan, Sobaeksan, Wolchulsan, Byeonsan and Taebaeksan.

Geumjeongsan will begin rentals in July.

The initiative allows visitors to borrow nine types of hiking safety equipment free of charge, including hiking boots, trekking poles, backpacks, knee protectors, emergency kits, crampons and hot packs.

The program was first introduced as a pilot project at Bukhansan National Park in 2021 to reduce accidents caused by unprepared hiking.

In 2024, it expanded to six urban-area national parks after being selected as a public service initiative by the Finance Ministry.

Another six parks, including Jirisan, joined the program in 2025.

The park service said rental demand continued to rise last year, with about 6,600 equipment rentals recorded across 12 national parks.

Trekking poles accounted for the largest share of rentals at 28 percent, followed by crampons at 19 percent.

The agency also identified growing demand from foreign visitors, with 158 rental cases involving international hikers recorded last year at parks including Bukhansan.

Officials said the park service would launch a dedicated multilingual guidance system for foreign visitors this year, including English-language signs and promotional materials distributed through overseas social media platforms.

Visitors can rent equipment at national park visitor support centers after completing an application form and agreeing to personal information collection terms.

All equipment must be returned the same day.

The Korea National Park Service said the expanded program was expected to reduce safety accidents caused by inadequate hiking gear.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.