Last checked: October 7, 2026 · Source: Korea National Park Service booking site (reservation.knps.or.kr) — pages linked below.
New here? Start with our overview of all 13 Korea national park shelters: beds, prices and which ones stop sales from Nov 14 to Dec 15.
Since July 2025, Jirisan’s seven shelters (Jangteomok, Seseok, Byeoksoryeong, Rotary, Chibatmok, Yeonhacheon and Nogodan) have been booked by lottery, not first-come. Each round covers two months of stays and opens about a month before they start. A bed costs 20,000 won on weeknights and 30,000 won on Friday and Saturday nights and in peak periods. Winners pay online within about a day, and beds nobody pays for go on sale first-come a day or so later.
Now: leftover beds for November–December 2026 stays
- The lottery for these months is over. Leftover and cancelled beds are sold first-come from Oct 8, 10:00 KST, up to 13:59 on the day of your stay.
- Byeoksoryeong, Seseok and Yeonhacheon close from mid-November to Dec 15 for wildfire-prevention trail control. KNPS’s lottery list says sales stop from Nov 14; the shelter pages say no use from Nov 15 to Dec 15.
- Next round (January–February 2027 stays): not announced yet. Under KNPS’s rule that lotteries open on the 1st of even-numbered months, applications would open on Tue, Dec 1, 2026; KNPS posts the exact dates in a notice shortly before.
Which Jirisan shelters are in the lottery?
All seven are lottery shelters. Capacities below are from the KNPS list attached to the Sept 29, 2026 notice (round 6):
| Shelter | Office | Beds (people) | Note for Nov–Dec 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jangteomok (장터목) | Jirisan Gyeongnam | 120 | — |
| Seseok (세석) | Jirisan Gyeongnam | 120 | Not sold Nov 14 – Dec 15 |
| Byeoksoryeong (벽소령) | Jirisan Gyeongnam | 70 | Not sold Nov 14 – Dec 15 |
| Rotary (로타리) | Jirisan Gyeongnam | 18 | — |
| Chibatmok (치밭목) | Jirisan Gyeongnam | 35 | — |
| Yeonhacheon (연하천) | Jirisan Jeonbuk | 50 | Not sold Nov 14 – Dec 15 |
| Nogodan (노고단) | Jirisan Jeonnam | 36 | — |
The same lottery also covers Seoraksan, Deogyusan and Sobaeksan shelters. For Seoraksan’s four shelters, prices and closures, see our Seoraksan shelter guide.
One warning: the English KNPS pages are out of date. They still list Seseok at 175 beds and Yeonhacheon at 66, and say you pay at the shelter. The Korean lottery page and notices have the current rules.
How much does a Jirisan shelter cost?
Prices went up on January 1, 2026. Every Jirisan shelter now charges the same per person, per night:
| Night | Price |
|---|---|
| Weeknight (Sun–Thu, except the night before a public holiday) | 20,000 won |
| Weekend (Fri, Sat, and the night before a public holiday) | 30,000 won |
| Peak periods: Jul 1 – Aug 31 and Oct 1 – Nov 15 (any night) | 30,000 won |
So for this round, every night from Nov 1 to Nov 15 is 30,000 won; from Nov 16 the weekday/weekend split applies. Each shelter’s KNPS info page also lists what its shop sells; Byeoksoryeong, for example, lists 2-litre water (3,000 won), instant rice (3,000 won) and gas canisters. Shelter shops can run out of water, so carry what you need.
2026 lottery calendar (round 6)
| Step | Date and time (KST) |
|---|---|
| Stays covered | Sun, Nov 1 – Thu, Dec 31, 2026 |
| Apply | Thu, Oct 1, 10:00 – Tue, Oct 6, 10:00 |
| Draw | Tue, Oct 6, 13:00 |
| Results | Tue, Oct 6, 16:00 (in My page → My reservations) |
| Pay (winners only) | Oct 6, 16:00 – Wed, Oct 7, 22:00 |
| Leftover beds, first-come | From Thu, Oct 8, 10:00 |
Rounds run every two months, and the policy page says the lottery opens on the 1st of every even-numbered month. If the opening day or draw day falls on a public holiday, it moves to the next weekday. The next round (stays in January–February 2027) has not been announced yet. If the pattern holds, applications should open on Tuesday, Dec 1, 2026 — check the KNPS notice board in late November.
How the lottery works
- It’s a lottery, so applying at 10:00 sharp doesn’t improve your chances. Any time before the window closes is the same.
- Up to 4 shelter applications per person per month in the stay period.
- You may apply for the same date more than once (for example Jangteomok and Seseok on Nov 14), but you can win only one per date.
- The win belongs to the applicant. The lottery page says a winning booking cannot be used by anyone other than the applicant. Don’t apply for a friend who is hiking without you.
- You can’t switch shelters after winning until the leftover (first-come) booking opens.
- Unpaid = cancelled. If you don’t pay by the deadline the win is cancelled automatically. KNPS suggests paying at least an hour before the deadline.
Beds that nobody applied for, beds winners cancel, and beds that weren’t paid for all go into the first-come leftover sale.
Group size and booking limits
From the Korean shelter booking page:
| Rule | Limit |
|---|---|
| People per booking | Up to 5, including you |
| Nights per booking | 1 (KNPS policy: shelters 1박 2일) |
| Bookings per date | 1 |
| Bookings per month | 4 (Jirisan ridge trek: up to 6 allowed) |
| Last moment to book a leftover bed | 13:59 on the day of your stay |
A ridge trek over several nights means one booking per shelter per night — that’s why Jirisan gets 6 bookings a month instead of 4.
People under 19 can only stay with a guardian, or with a guardian’s consent form and documents (KNPS FAQ).
Step by step for foreign visitors
- Make an account. On reservation.knps.or.kr, switch to EN and choose Sign up. The English form asks for first name, last name, email (this becomes your ID), password (8–16 characters, with at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter and one special character), birthday and sex. No Korean phone number is asked for on this form. (The Korean site’s non-member login is not an option for most visitors: it verifies you with a Korean mobile phone or i-PIN.)
- Find the lottery. The English menu has a shelter reservation page but no lottery entry. The lottery is on the Korean menu: 예약하기 → 추첨제 (Reservation → Lottery), then pick 대피소 (Shelter). KNPS doesn’t say whether an account made on the English site can apply there. If yours can’t, call 1670-9201 before the window closes.
- Choose park, shelter and date, then the number of people (up to 5).
- Apply within the window. You can add more applications up to your monthly limit.
- Check results after 16:00 on results day under My page → My reservations (마이페이지 → 나의 예약목록). If you applied as a non-member, log in as a non-member to see it; a member login won’t show a non-member application.
- Pay before the deadline. Listed payment methods: card, real-time bank transfer, virtual account, and easy-pay apps (KakaoPay, Naver Pay, Samsung Pay etc.). For virtual accounts and transfers, KNPS asks you to finish before 10 p.m. because of bank cut-off times. KNPS doesn’t say whether foreign-issued cards work. If you only have a foreign card, ask the help line before the payment window opens. (The English FAQ still says you can “pay by cash” — that’s out of date; unpaid wins are cancelled.)
- On the day, register at the shelter. You and every companion need an ID card or passport. The English shelter guide gives check-in as 15:00–18:00; Seoraksan’s current rules use the same hours for November–March. Plan to arrive by 18:00.
Text and KakaoTalk alerts are an extra service. KNPS says it does not compensate if a message doesn’t arrive, so always check your status on the website yourself.
Trailhead cut-off times (November–March)
A shelter booking doesn’t help if the trailhead is already closed. Jirisan sets a last entry time at each gate. Winter times (Nov–Mar) from the KNPS table for the main shelter approaches:
| Trailhead | Last entry (Nov–Mar) | Leads to |
|---|---|---|
| Baengmudong (백무동) | 12:00 | Seseok, Jangteomok |
| Jungsanri (중산리) | 13:00 | Rotary, Jangteomok |
| Georim (거림) | 12:00 | Seseok |
| Eumjeong (음정) | 13:00 | Byeoksoryeong |
| Saejae (새재) / Yupyeong (유평) | 13:00 / 12:00 | Chibatmok |
| Seongsamjae → Nogodan (성삼재) | 16:00 | Nogodan |
Shelter guests get extra time at several gates: at Jungsanri, Rotary guests get 2 hours and Jangteomok guests 1 hour; at the other gates in this table except Seongsamjae, guests of the listed shelter get 2 hours. From April to October most gates close an hour later. The full table is on the KNPS “입산시간지정제” page linked below.
Cancellation and refunds
From the KNPS reservation and refund policy:
| You cancel… | Refund |
|---|---|
| 3+ days before your stay, or on the day you paid | Full refund |
| 2 days before | 90% (10% deducted) |
| 1 day before | 80% (20% deducted) |
| On the day, before 12:00 | 70% (30% deducted); see the no-show note below |
| Didn’t cancel / didn’t show | No refund + no-show penalty |
- Cancel deadline: before 12:00 noon on the day of your stay. The same deadline applies if you want to change the number of companions.
- No-show penalty: 1st time = 1 month without bookings; 2nd time = 3 months. The record is cleared if you have no further no-shows for a year after the penalty.
- Same-day cancellation: cancel it yourself on the booking site before 12:00 on the day and you get 70% back. KNPS’s refund table adds a no-show restriction for same-day cancellations, but its no-show rules say a cancellation you make yourself before 12:00 on the day is exempt; one made by staff counts as a no-show.
- If KNPS cancels (their fault): full refund if they tell you 3+ days ahead, and 110% / 120% if they tell you 2 / 1 days ahead.
- Weather warnings and disasters: if a special weather report (including preliminary warnings) stops shelter use, no cancellation fee is charged.
- Refunds take about 3–7 days.
On the English page: if the lead booker cancels, everyone else on that booking is cancelled too. You can remove companions but not add them, and you can’t change the date.
If something goes wrong
I won but didn’t pay in time.
The win is cancelled automatically and the bed goes into the first-come leftover sale. The payment deadline is in Korea time (22:00 KST on the day after results), which is easy to miss from another time zone, so set an alarm.
I can’t see my result.
Log in the same way you applied (member vs non-member). This is in the KNPS FAQ.
The English page says I pay at the shelter.
That English page is out of date. Winners pay online within the payment window.
My friend won a bed — can I use it?
No. Winning bookings can only be used by the applicant, and everyone shows ID at check-in.
Seseok shows nothing for late November.
Seseok, Byeoksoryeong and Yeonhacheon are not sold Nov 14 – Dec 15, 2026 because of the wildfire-prevention trail control. Jangteomok, Rotary, Chibatmok and Nogodan are not on that list.
Is there a waitlist if a shelter is full?
Yes. Shelters take a waitlist of up to 10% of capacity, with 3 waitlist requests per person per month. Waitlists are cancelled at midnight two days before the stay, so check My reservations rather than waiting for a text.
Planning a bigger hiking trip? Hallasan in Jeju uses a different system, with free monthly reservations instead of a lottery: how to book Hallasan as a foreign visitor. For the train to Gurye or Namwon, see how far ahead KTX tickets open, and for staying connected on the trip: eSIM vs USIM for Korea.
No Korean phone? National recreation forest cabins are a harder booking than shelters. See whether foreigners can book forest cabins.
Getting there: bus times, fares and last buses from Seoul to Baekmu-dong, Seongsamjae and Jungsan-ri are in our Seoul to Jirisan by bus or train guide.
Help
KNPS reservation help line: 1670-9201 (a Korean nationwide number that may not connect from abroad), weekdays 09:00–18:00, lunch 12:00–13:00.
Booking on the national park site in English (what works, what is out of date, payment and refunds): Korea National Park booking site in English.
Going in autumn? Our 2026 fall foliage peak dates by mountain shows when the leaves turn and which trails close in November.
Read next
Sources
- Year-round shelter lottery from July 1, 2025 stays (KNPS announcement, as reported): zdnet.co.kr · news.mt.co.kr
- Shelter info pages with 2026 prices and shop items (example: Byeoksoryeong)
- Fee increase from Jan 1, 2026 (Nov 28, 2025)
- Trailhead entry and cut-off times (입산시간지정제)
- Shelter lottery page (round 6 dates, payment window, 4/month limit, same-date rule, applicant-only use)
- Notice “2026 national park facility booking, 6th lottery” (Sept 29, 2026) and attached shelter list with capacities and Nov 14 – Dec 15 sales restriction: reservation.knps.or.kr (PDF: reservation.knps.or.kr)
- Reservation and refund policy (lottery on the 1st of even months, holiday rule, 1 night per shelter booking, cancel by 12:00, refund table, no-show penalty, payment methods, weekday/weekend/peak definitions)
- Shelter booking page (5 people per booking, 4 per month / Jirisan ridge 6, leftover booking until 13:59)
- FAQ (non-member results, minors)
- English shelter guide (ID or passport at registration, 15:00–18:00 check-in, group cancellation rule; partly outdated)
- English sign-up form
- Notice list