Woody Magazine Sunday ✈️ Travel Edition — After the Cherry Blossoms, There's a Barley Sea
Meet the Horizon
Cherry blossoms are gone. But the assumption that spring ends with them is wrong. In Korea, the second half of spring belongs to something altogether different — and quieter. A barley field that rolls across the hills of Gochang (고창), a county in North Jeolla Province, three hours south of Seoul.
```The 23rd Gochang Green Barley Festival opened yesterday, April 18, and runs through May 10 — 23 days in total. This year, the cultivated area at Hakwon Farm (학원관광농장) has been expanded from 770,000 m² to one million square meters, roughly 300 acres. The farm sits on a series of gentle ridges rather than flat land, which means standing on the observation deck doesn't just give you a view of barley — it gives you a horizon of it. The green waves appear to spill off the edge of the earth.
The site became nationally famous long before it was a festival destination. Korean drama viewers will recognize it immediately: the hillside hut from Goblin (도깨비) is here. So are filming locations for 100 Days My Prince (백일의 낭군님) and, more recently, the critically acclaimed Netflix series When the Stars Gossip (폭싹 속았수다). Last year's 22nd edition drew 510,000 visitors.
New for 2026 is a formalized walking trail — the Barley Path — that takes visitors directly through the crop rows rather than around them. The sensory difference is significant: the rustle of stalks at shoulder height, the smell of soil, the soft crunch underfoot. Yellow rapeseed flowers are planted alongside the barley, creating a color contrast that has made this one of Korea's most-photographed spring destinations.
Entry is free. Parking costs ₩10,000 (roughly $7), but the fee is refunded on the spot as a Gochang Love Gift Voucher — redeemable at food stalls and local shops within the festival grounds. The festival runs a tractor sightseeing car for families. On-site dining includes barley bibimbap, barley pancakes, and bokbunja (Korean black raspberry) ice cream. Nearby, the Seonunsa area is known for its pungcheon eel restaurants — a regional specialty worth the detour.
The festival dates to 2004, when this farm became the country's first officially designated landscape agriculture special zone — a concept that barely existed in Korean before Hakwon Farm made it real. Twenty-two years later, the idea has spread across the country. But the original is still the best.
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