Cheonan's Gwangdeoksa walnut tree: the walnut town you can reach by Seoul subway

A city you can reach on Line 1 without transferring, and a temple with a Goryeo walnut legend

The story of the Gwangdeoksa walnut tree

Cheonan is a city whose name appears on the Seoul subway map. Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 was extended to Cheonan in January 2005, and trains still run from Seoul Station and Yongsan toward Cheonan and Sinchang. On these trains you can ride from Seoul Station to Cheonan Station without transferring, and according to a Cheonan university's transportation guide it takes about 1 hr 50 min. To save time, the KTX from Seoul Station reaches Cheonan-Asan Station in 35–50 minutes.^{[8][9][13][10]}

How Cheonan became walnut country comes down as a legend. In September of year 16 of King Chungnyeol's reign in Goryeo (1290), Yu Cheong-sin, returning from Yuan China with the king, is said to have brought walnut saplings and nuts, planting the sapling inside Gwangdeoksa and the nuts in the garden of his hometown house. That's why the Gwangdeoksa area is regarded as the first place walnuts were planted in Korea, and a 'Sisikji' (first-planting site) stone marker announcing this stands in front of the tree. However, some local historians argue that Yu Cheong-sin never returned and that the story was made up to promote walnut cakes.^[1][3][4][5]

The walnut tree now standing at the entrance to Gwangdeoksa was designated a Natural Monument on December 23, 1998 (former designation No. 398). Its age is estimated at about 400 years. A tree planted in 1290 would be over 700 years old, so the current tree is considered not the first tree of the legend but a later tree that grew afterward. It is over 18 m tall, and the trunk splits in two about 60 cm above the ground. The Gwangdeok-myeon area is said to still have around 250,000 to 260,000 walnut trees.^[1][2][3][5]

Walnut cakes got their name in front of Cheonan Station. The most widely known story is that the couple Jo Gui-geum and Sim Bok-sun first made walnut cakes from Cheonan walnuts and red bean in 1934, which is the position of Hakhwa Walnut Cakes and Cheonan City. But the Busan Ilbo of April 12, 1931 ran an article saying that the owner of a Japanese-run confectionery in front of Cheonan Station won a rank-1 prize at a confectionery contest for 'kurumiyaki' (grilled walnut pastry). A local historian also revealed in early 2026 that the Joseon Shinmun of September 27 that same year had run a photo of a shop with a sign reading 'Cheonan specialty walnut cakes.' Who was first is still unsettled.^[6][7][8]

To get to Gwangdeoksa, Cheonan city bus 600 goes all the way to the last stop. The route starts at Cheonan Bus Terminal, passes the East Square of Cheonan Station and ends at 'Gwangdeoksa,' with weekday buses every 70 minutes according to a bus info site. According to a 2009 article, it took about 50 minutes from downtown Cheonan to Gwangdeoksan Mountain. A good order is to see the walnut tree at the temple and buy walnut cakes in front of Cheonan Station on the way back.^[4][11]

Good to know before you go

Address

30 Gwangdeoksa-gil, Gwangdeok-myeon, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungnam

Getting there

From Seoul Station, take a Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 train toward Cheonan or Sinchang and get off at Cheonan Station (about 1 hr 50 min without transferring). If you take the KTX, it's 35–50 minutes from Seoul Station to Cheonan-Asan Station; then take a Cheonan-bound train from Asan Station on Line 1, which connects to Cheonan-Asan Station, to Cheonan Station. From the Cheonan Station East Square stop, take city bus 600 and get off at the last stop, 'Gwangdeoksa.' Bus 600 starts at Cheonan Bus Terminal, so if you came by express bus you can board it right at the terminal.

Good to know

It was announced that Cheonan city buses will stop accepting cash from January 2026 (per a December 2025 news report). Load your transit card in advance. Bus 600 runs about every 70 minutes on weekdays, so you'd wait a long time if you miss it; check the arrival time in a map app first. On Line 1, some trains end at an intermediate station, so check that the destination sign says 'Cheonan' or 'Sinchang' before boarding.

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