[Hampyeong’s Scenery 4] Spectacular view of the entire park wrapped around with crimson skirts
Red Spider Lily Park of Yongcheonsa Temple
Red Spider Lily Park located near Yongcheonsa Temple in Haebo-myeon, Hampyeong-gun is not a recreational area but an ecological experience center. With red spider lilies in full bloom between September and October, Red Spider Lily Festival is usually held around mid-September when the flowers look most splendid. Red spider lilies offer a spectacular view as if the entire park were wrapped around with crimson skirts, creating an amazing scenery, which is the reason for the park being designated as one of Korea’s 100 top sceneries (Scenery 48). In particular, the flowers look more beautiful and clearer as they are grown in a good environment of a thick-stemmed bamboo forest.
In winter, in contrast to desolate mountains, red spider lilies with thick, green leaves maintain vitality and greenness in the forest during winter. Numerous tourists and photographers from all over the country come to this place to capture beautiful memories. Charming zephyranthes candida can be found everywhere in the Red Spider Lily Park. In July before the Red Spider Lily Festival is held, a tunnel decorated with dried and smooth calabash, sponge gourd and ornamental gourd can be seen, which nurtures the dreams and romance in children, and a feeling of nostalgia in adults.
At the lake in front of the park is a Yong (dragon) fountain with stepping stones where ducks swim around leisurely. Red Spider Lily Park, providing a variety of things to see throughout the seasons, will make first-time visitors come here again to create other new memories. A four-kilometer flower path, ridden with red spider lilies on both sides of a hiking trail in Moak Mountain and Sinhaeseon, an entry road of Yongcheonsa Temple, elicits exclamation from visitors with its natural beauty.
What is red spider lily?
Red spider lily (cluster amaryllis) is a plant with red flowers blooming in September and October, which belongs to the family of narcissus. As leaves sprout after flowers wither and flowers bloom after leaves wither, red spider lily is affectionately denominated as lycoris squamigera (magic lily) meaning “flowers and leaves do not synchronize.” Dark green leaves sprout without bearing fruits after flowers fall, which wither in the spring of the following year. Red spider lilies usually bloom at the foot of mountains or near temples because red spider lily’s roots are ground into powder and dried to use as preservatives for Korean buddhist paintings, which is why the flowers can be easily found near most temples. Yongcheonsa Temple and its adjacent area is well known as Korea’s largest red spider lily habitat.