This week on Jeju: A to Z, Todd Thacker gives us a quick overview of the island’s Olle walking trail system, which is designed to encourage people to slow down and enjoy Jeju’s natural beauty.

Jeju’s network of Olle walking trails highlights the human-scale of Jeju’s beauty. It encourages both intrepid nature-lovers and tired urbanites to immerse themselves in the quiet natural surroundings of the island.

These walking paths are setup to help trekkers slow down and “heal” their tired minds and bodies.

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Jeju Olle modeled on Spain’s Camino de Santiago

The Olle trail system is the brainchild of a journalist from Jeju named Suh Myung-sook. Upon retiring in 2006, she traveled to Europe and walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain. It was there that she got the idea for the Jeju Olle.

In a book she wrote about this time, she said it was immediately obvious how a system of walking trails could be a healthy and eco-friendly way of seeing Jeju, as well as sustainably contributing to the local economy.

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Volunteers built Trail 1 in 2007

Just a year after her initial plan, the first of the Jeju Olle trails began being built, mostly by volunteers, on the northeast coast. Now over 400 kilometers in length, it spans the entire island and Jeju’s outlying islands of Udo (trail 1-1) Gapado (trail 10-1) and Chujado (trail 18-1).

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Todd Thacker

Whether you’re an experienced outdoorsy type, or just someone who wants to hit the trail and see Jeju up close sometime in the near future, here’s a friendly reminder. Be sure to bring appropriate footwear, dress in layers to regulate your body temperature, and wear sunscreen on your outdoor Olle adventure.

Todd Thacker KCTV