Hantangang River Geopark

Meonguri Gorge is a place where basalt gorge presents a grand sight enough to be called ‘Grand Gorge in Korea’. It is said to have been called as Meonguri because ‘do not go there drunk. If falling, you get a bruise.’ Meonguri Gorge is a place best showing the formation process of lava flowed in Hantan River and both sides of the gorge have the different characteristics.

Characteristics of Meongurl Gorge

As can be seen in the picture, the river meanders due to the nature of terrain and therefore, one side is eroded by the river a lot so basalt accumulated during the Quarternary Period is mostly eroded or some remain, showing a gentle slope. On the other hand, you can see that the basalt columnar joint of the Quarternary Period is left intact on the other side. Columnar joint created in this basalt cliff is created by the following principle and can be observed throughout the Hantan River.

Bidulginang Falls are the basalt erosion gorge located in Yeongbuk-myeon Daehoesan-ri and located at the distal end of Bulmucheon originating from Mt. Bulmu. As shown in the name of Bidulginang, they are called Bidulginang Falls because the surrounding terrain looks like a depressed bag like a dove nest. Another rumor is that it is called Bidulginang because rock pigeons have inhabited in the cave around the falls.
It was used as a shelter for villagers during the Korean War and was also used as a recreation area for soldiers because trees grew think and the place was not revealed to the outside. However, it is currently protected by being designated as Natural monument No. 537 in 2012 and conveys its beauty and unexplored land to many tourists.

Geological and topographically, you can observe the erosion terrain caused by the river such as fluvial cave, gorge, head-water erosion, plunge pool in Bidulginang Falls and also check various geological structures such as columnar joint, plaste joint etc. Also, it can be said to be academically valuable because you can oberve the unit of lava flown in the Hantan River at a glance.

Geological features of Bidulginang Falls

Above all, however, the beauty and mystery enough to be highlighted as shooting sights of numerous dramas and movies have been recognized and it became already the world famous geological attraction and more and more foreigners visit here.

Dramas and movies filmed in Bidulginang Falls