Discovering dawn redwoods on Nami Island

A bucket list journey to South Korea's famous "Metasequoia Lane"

On a sweltering June day, I stepped off a ferry and onto Nami Island, one of the most popular tourist destinations in South Korea, 33 miles outside of Seoul. Hundreds of needle firs and Korean pines welcomed me, my husband, and our two young daughters, but we didn’t pause for long. The reason for our visit lay farther on, toward the heart of the island: the famous “Metasequoia Lane.” 

This trip to South Korea meant a lot to our family. Not only was it my younger daughter’s first visit to my birthplace, but we would have a chance to connect with the beautiful and mysterious dawn redwoods, one of the three distinct redwood species, along with coast redwoods and giant sequoias.  

Face to face with “living fossils”

After walking another mile, there they were: Rows of majestic dawn redwoods lining a wide path. Visitors wandered the lane, snapping photos and enjoying a respite from the blazing sun.

I gazed upwards at the treetops. The dawn redwoods weren’t nearly as tall as their California cousins, but looking at the shaggy, reddish-brown bark, the family resemblance was obvious. Because it was summer, the feathery canopy overhead was thick and green. But dawn redwoods are deciduous—the only redwood trees to lose their needles. If we had visited in late autumn, their foliage would have been a beautiful coppery orange. 

For centuries, dawn redwoods were believed to be extinct, their existence known only through the fossil record. Then in 1948, a small grove was discovered in China. Seedlings were brought to Korea in the 1950s, and the government later planted dawn redwoods as street trees, due to their resilience to Korea’s cold temperatures and air pollution.

In 2009, a fossilized Metasequoia glyptostroboides was unearthed in North Gyeongsang Province in eastern South Korea. It was proof that dawn redwoods had once thrived on the Korean peninsula some 20 million years ago

Forest bathing, the Korean way

Besides Nami Island, another famous spot for viewing dawn redwoods is Damyang, in southwest Korea. There, you can experience a 3-mile-long path lined with tall trees—an ideal place to enjoy forest bathing, or Sanlimyok (“San-leem-yolk”). 

Places with lots of trees or mountains are considered sacred spots by the Korean people, as we believe nature gives you the vital energy known as Ki (“key”). For this reason, the dawn redwood lanes have become must-visit sites among Koreans, as well as for visitors from around the world. 

I always feel refreshed in nature, and walking down Nami Island’s long lane of dawn redwoods to the Bukhan River was no exception. But whatever energy the trees had gifted me was no match for the oppressive heat and humidity of the South Korean summer. I knew it was time to call it a day when my older daughter asked me, “Umma, is this how dumplings feel in a pot when they are steamed?”  

But as we left the island and began the journey back to Seoul, I was filled with joy. My family had gotten to connect with the dawn redwoods. We had shared a moment in their long and fascinating story.