Jinan: Korea's open-air museum of geological wonders

JINAN, North Jeolla Province — Just a 30-kilometer drive east from Jeonju Station, the rolling green mountains of North Jeolla Province give way to a sight that feels entirely alien yet deeply sacred as two colossal weathered rocks bearing a striking resemblance to a pair of giant horse ears rise abruptly out of the forests of Maisan ("horse ear mountain") Provincial Park. Stepping into this high-plateau region, which forms an integral part of the Jinan-Muju National Geopark, visitors are immersed in the unique landscape that earned Mount Mai three stars in the prestigious Michelin Green Guide, the highest possible rating. First time visitors will immediately be struck by the texture of the mountains. Rather than the granite found in most places on the peninsula, the giant cliffs here are made of conglomerate sedimentary rock, pockmarked with thousands of hollow cavities known as tafoni. Geologists believe these unique depressions were created during the Fourth Ice Age, when water trapped in fissures in the rock repeatedly froze and thawed, expanding and shattering the stone from with