Bangudae Petroglyphs

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Petroglyphs Along The Bangucheon Stream (2025); National Treasure · Ulsan, Ulsan

The Bangudae Petroglyphs are a cliff of carved rock above the Daegokcheon stream in Ulju county, in the hills west of Ulsan, covered with roughly three hundred figures pecked and carved by prehistoric people: whales of several kinds, whaling boats with crews and harpoons, deer, tigers, boars, turtles and human figures, including a masked face and hunters. The whaling scenes are among the oldest known depictions of whaling anywhere, though the dating is debated and is commonly given as Neolithic to Bronze Age. Found in 1971, the carvings are a National Treasure and, with the nearby Cheonjeon-ri petroglyphs of geometric patterns and later Silla inscriptions, were inscribed by UNESCO in 2025 as Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream. Visitors see the panel from across the stream through telescopes, not up close, and for part of each year it has been under the water of the Sayeon dam reservoir. The Ulsan Petroglyph Museum nearby has a full replica. Ulsan itself adds whale history, sea rocks and a bamboo forest.

Bangudae-an-gil, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, Ulsan, 44916, South Korea

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the Ulsan Petroglyph Museum opens about 9 am to 6 pm, and has usually closed on Mondays and on New Year's Day, with last entry about 30 minutes to an hour before closing. The Bangudae viewing area and the Cheonjeon-ri site are open daily in daylight and the paths may close towards sunset. Opening times and any new visitor arrangements may have changed after the 2025 UNESCO listing. The traps that ruin a day are arriving on a Monday when the museum is shut, finding the panel under water after heavy rain, having no transport back from the rural site, and leaving too late in winter to walk the path in daylight. Confirm current times before relying on them.

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