The ‘Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream’ (the adjusted official name) will be South Korea’s nomination for 2025. Especially at the Ulsan Petroglyphs Museum, located at the site entrance, they are confident that it will get inscribed. Information panels detail the milestones in the nomination process, a map is showing all rock art WHS worldwide, and I was presented with a booklet explaining the site’s OUV. I wouldn’t say it’s a great site from either an artistic or visitor experience perspective. Still, they have done their best to provide a satisfying visit that will take some 2.5-3 hours if you take in all components (the museum, the two panels of petroglyphs, and the dinosaur tracks) on foot. And it's all free.

The exhibition at the museum is a preview of what we will see in the nomination dossier: a compelling story about how the local people during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age depended on whale hunting for their livelihood. They “loved” the whales so much that they made numerous engravings on the rocks by the riverside, possibly as a form of worship. Some sources say it's also the earliest evidence found so far of the practice of whaling worldwide, although this claim isn't repeated in the proposed OUV statement (it speaks of "a subject only rarely found in rock art worldwide").

The main set of petroglyphs is called Bangudae. I only succeeded in getting the upper photo of the two posted with this review after using my 83x zoom lens and afterward applying a ‘B&W High Contrast’ filter twice! This tiger is the most visible drawing, the whales are barely discernable blobs. They are on a rock wall across the river seen from a viewing platform, which would be more useful if they provided some kind of covering against the sun. 

Getting to the other panel of petroglyphs, Cheonjeon-ri, requires a more serious hike (if you don’t have your own set of wheels, that is). There is a narrow path through the forest, going up and down and it will be very muddy when it has been raining. Overall it is a very wet area, susceptible to flooding. You notice it as well due to the amount of mosquitos and dragonflies that you encounter along the path – and I even saw a big toad. The reward here is that you can view these petroglyphs up and close, but even then the more interesting icons were hard to see (I failed to find the dragon for example, although there is an explanatory sign in front of it). The lower photo shows a "Person dressed in clothes" (looks more like two wicker baskets to me).

Getting there and away

Public transport directions can be confusing in South Korea (see this forum post), but it turns out that Bangudae is very easy to reach from Busan. It takes a 21-minute ride in one of the frequent trains to Ulsan KTX station (8,400 Won), plus a 15-minute taxi ride from there (12,000-14,000 Won). Using Ulsan KTX station as your hub, you can also combine a visit to the petroglyphs with Tongdosa Temple, one of the Sansa WHS. Thus it is not necessary to stay overnight in the city of Ulsan, from where it is more time-consuming to get to Bangudae. There are only 3 buses a day (bus 348), and they take 1.5-2 hours from Ulsan city center. Alternatively, you could take a taxi all the way (Uber quotes 30,000 Won).