A wide field of tall silver grass catching low golden sunlight on a hilltop in Seoul, a few visitors in autumn jackets walking away along a dirt path, the Han River and the city hazy in the distance, late afternoon, no signs or text visible

How to Visit the Seoul Silver Grass Festival 2026 at Haneul Park

Sep 28, 2026

#seoulsilvergrassfestival#haneulpark#autumninseoul#thingstodoinseoul

For one week in October, the best sunset in Seoul is on top of an old landfill. The grass is taller than you are, the wind moves through it like water, and the whole hill turns silver and then gold.

Last updated: September 28, 2026 (KST)

Here is the bottom line. The 25th Seoul Silver Grass Festival runs from Saturday, October 17 to Friday, October 23, 2026, daily from 10:00 to 21:00, at Haneul Park in Mapo-gu. Entry to the park is free. Take Line 6 to World Cup Stadium Station, allow about 40 minutes on foot to the top, and arrive by 16:00 on a weekday if you can. Sunset is between 17:46 and 17:54 that week, and the hill is lit after dark. The city has published the dates and the program outline but not the hour-by-hour schedule, so the evening times below are from the 2025 festival.

What Haneul Park Is

Haneul Park (하늘공원, "Sky Park") sits 98 meters above sea level beside the Han River, on what used to be the Nanjido landfill, which took Seoul's waste from March 1978 to March 1993. It reopened as part of World Cup Park on May 1, 2002, and the festival has been held here since that year.

The silver grass (eoksae, 억새) covers about 198,000 square meters of the hilltop. From the edges you can see the Han River bridges, World Cup Stadium, Bukhansan, and Namsan.

The park controls entry at night to protect wildlife, and Visit Seoul lists Haneul Park as closed from two hours after sunset. Festival week is when the hill is programmed and lit until 21:00.

Getting to the Top

📍 Subway: Line 6, World Cup Stadium Station, Exit 1. Mapo-gu Office Station also works. The city's own notice says the walk to the festival takes about 40 minutes and warns that roads around the park are very congested.

From the foot of the hill you have three ways up:

Haneul Stairs (하늘계단), 291 steps in a zigzag up the slope. Allow 10 to 20 minutes. This is the fastest route when the cart queue is long, and the view opens up as you climb.
The sloped road, the gentler option for strollers and anyone who would rather skip the stairs.
Maengkkongi electric cart (맹꽁이 전기차), which leaves from the Nanjicheon Park parking lot. Adults pay 2,000 KRW (about $1.50) one way or 3,000 KRW (about $2.20) round trip. Children aged 4 to 12 and seniors aged 65 and over pay 1,500 KRW (about $1.10) one way or 2,200 KRW (about $1.60) round trip. Children under 48 months ride free.

The cart's posted hours for October and November are 09:00 to 19:00, with the last uphill ride 30 minutes before closing. Extended hours for festival nights have not been announced, so plan to walk down after dark. In past years visitors have reported waits of about 40 minutes for the cart on busy days.

Driving is the weak option. Parking at World Cup Park costs 150 KRW (about $0.10) per 5 minutes, and the lots fill early on festival weekends. If you still need a transit card, see our Seoul transportation card guide.

💡 TIP: Buy a one-way cart ticket up and take the stairs down. The descent faces the stadium and Peace Park, and you skip the longest queue of the evening.

Long wooden zigzag stairs climbing a steep open grassy hillside in Seoul in switchbacks, seen from the bottom of the slope, small figures in autumn jackets walking up seen from behind, low shrubs and tall grass, clear October afternoon sky, plain wooden handrails with nothing attached, no signs or text visible

When to Go

Best time of day: arrive around 16:00. The hour before sunset is when the grass lights up from behind, and sunset falls at 17:54 on October 17 and 17:46 on October 23. It is fully dark about 25 minutes later.

Best days: Monday to Thursday. The festival covers one full weekend, October 17 and 18, and that is when the queues are longest.

If you miss the week: the grass does not leave with the festival. Silver grass in Seoul peaks in mid October and holds until early November. In both 2024 and 2025 the city kept the park open until 20:00 for about nine days after the festival ended. The same extension has not been announced for 2026.

What Happens at the Festival

The 2026 theme is "Silver Grass, the Comfort Nature Offers." The city has confirmed this outline:

Opening ceremony with a lighting show and performances
Photo zones and a wish zone across the field
Experience zone, including making silver grass bouquets
Busking on the central stage
Re-born Market (리본마켓), about 15 booths selling garden products, farm goods, and upcycled crafts, open 14:30 to 18:30

For timing, last year is the best guide. In 2025 the opening ceremony ran from 18:00 to 19:00 on the first Saturday, and media art and landscape lighting played every night from 19:00 to 20:30.

Foreign-language volunteers who speak English, Chinese, and Japanese will be on site in two shifts, 13:00 to 17:00 and 16:00 to 20:00.

Silver grass is not the only thing growing up there. The city's recent festival coverage highlights kochia (daepssari, 댑싸리), the round shrub that turns red in autumn, and cosmos. Pink muhly made the park famous on social media a few years ago, but the city has not mentioned it in its 2024 or 2025 festival material, so do not plan the trip around it.

Silver grass plumes after sunset under a deep blue sky on a hilltop in Seoul, lit softly from below by purple and warm white lamps, backlit silhouettes of visitors standing on a dirt path, distant city on the horizon, dry land, no river, no water, no signs or text visible

What to Bring

A warm layer. Seoul's October average is a high of 20.2°C and a low of 10.6°C, and an exposed hilltop after sunset feels colder than the street below.
Walking shoes. The full loop from the station through Peace Park, up to the top, and back is about 5 km.
Food, or a plan for it. Options on the hill are limited to the market stalls. Mangwon Market, open 10:00 to 20:00, is two stops away on Line 6 at Mangwon Station.

Dogs are allowed in World Cup Park outside the posted no-pet zones, and a dog under 40 cm can ride the cart if you hold it.

At the foot of the hill, the metasequoia path runs about 900 meters under tall straight trees. Walk it on your way back to the station.

Other Silver Grass and Autumn Fields Near Seoul

If the festival week does not suit you, these are confirmed for 2026:

Myeongseongsan, Pocheon, the 29th Sanjeong Lake Myeongseongsan Silver Grass Festival, October 16 to 18. A mountain hike above a lake, with a water fireworks show planned. Last year's festival was free.
Mindungsan, Jeongseon, the 31st Mindungsan Silver Grass Festival, September 18 to November 8. A 1,119-meter peak in Gangwon with two trails of 3.2 km and 2.6 km, each under two hours up.
Anseong Farmland, cosmos and pink muhly season, September 19 to November 1. Admission is 15,000 KRW (about $11) for adults and 13,000 KRW (about $9.50) for children.
Yangju Nari Farm, open for its autumn flower season until October 25.

Korea's environment ministry rated pink muhly an ecosystem risk grade 2 plant in December 2019 and advised local governments to hold back on planting it. It is not banned, but it explains why some parks have let their pink fields shrink.

For the leaves instead of the grass, see our Korea fall foliage guide for 2026, and for more hills inside the city, our Seoul hiking guide.

Koreans have a word for the way silver grass moves: they call it a wave, eoksae mulgyeol (억새 물결). Standing in it at dusk, on a hill that was built from fifteen years of the city's garbage, you understand why Seoul comes here every October. Few places show so plainly that a city can change its mind about a piece of land.

Looking for a home near the Han River parks? Homes in Korea helps foreigners find furnished rooms and monthly rentals in Mapo and across Seoul.