Jeju Olle Trail is a long-distance foot path on Jeju Island, an island off the south-west coast of South Korea. The overall route, mostly following the coastline, consists of 21 connected numbered main routes, 5 sub-routes, and a short spur that connects to Jeju International Airport. The routes have an average length of 16 km and all together total 422 km. The exact length and locations change over time as trails are modified or re-routed.
The routes pass through various landscapes along the way including small villages, beaches, farms, and forests. Many routes encompass some of the island's 368 oreums, which are low parasitic volcanoes and historical sites dating from ancient times through to the modern era.
Since its founding in 2007, it has become a major draw for Jeju Island, which attracts not only visitors from mainland South Korea, but also international travelers who have a taste for hiking. According to a 2008 statistic, over 1.2 million people visited and brought $25 billion in economic benefits to South Korea.
Jeju Olle Trail derives its name from Olle, which is the local Jeju dialect word for "a narrow pathway that is connected from the street to the front gate of a house". Gil means "road or pathway" in standard Korean.
The trail can be walked in either direction by following the appropriately colored route signs.
Suh Myung-suk had a clear principle when she worked on the route signs for Jeju Olle Trail. She would use eco-friendly materials and make any signs go along with nature, but be easily seen.
She was inspired by the route signs she saw in Santiago. The signs were made up of shells or rocks, and only yellow arrows were painted on them. Similarly, but distinctively she decided to lacquer blue arrows on rocks as blue was the color that hikers on Jeju Olle Trail could always see in the skies and seas of the island. For the routes on which she could not find rocks, she tied blue ribbons on nearby trees. However, she soon found it necessary to slightly alter her original plan. Spraying lacquer could damage rocks and as a consequence that conflicted with her conviction to not harm nature. Instead of lacquering the arrows with blue Suh chose to paint the arrows. Routes signs have gone on to expand to blue and orange ribbons along with the Ganse outline, which is shaped after the distinctive Jeju pony. These blue outlines indicate how long a hiker has left is on the particular route. Wooden arrows are also placed a crossroads, while plates are tied to utility poles in the city and some trees in the forest. There are detour and danger signs at locations that require caution. A map and de-tour distance, if needed, are shown. The start of every route has a marker stone. There is a wooden Ganse box with stamps for an Jeju Olle Trail passport to record progress.
She was inspired by the route signs she saw in Santiago. The signs were made up of shells or rocks, and only yellow arrows were painted on them. Similarly, but distinctively she decided to lacquer blue arrows on rocks as blue was the color that hikers on Jeju Olle Trail could always see in the skies and seas of the island. For the routes on which she could not find rocks, she tied blue ribbons on nearby trees. However, she soon found it necessary to slightly alter her original plan. Spraying lacquer could damage rocks and as a consequence that conflicted with her conviction to not harm nature. Instead of lacquering the arrows with blue Suh chose to paint the arrows. Routes signs have gone on to expand to blue and orange ribbons along with the Ganse outline, which is shaped after the distinctive Jeju pony. These blue outlines indicate how long a hiker has left is on the particular route. Wooden arrows are also placed a crossroads, while plates are tied to utility poles in the city and some trees in the forest. There are detour and danger signs at locations that require caution. A map and de-tour distance, if needed, are shown. The start of every route has a marker stone. There is a wooden Ganse box with stamps for an Jeju Olle Trail passport to record progress.
The blue arrows represent the originally intended hiking direction while the orange arrows offer the alternative.
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