High Ground BakeryA Big Bakery Cafe in the Ui-dong Valley Below Bukhansan, With Room to Park

Among hikers and the weekend crowd

It sits inside the Ui-dong valley. The area has plenty of places to eat, so it gets busy on weekends, and a lot of hikers pass through on their way up and down the mountain. High Ground runs its bakery cafe right in the middle of that.

It is quite large, and the interior is well done. Because it is popular, the car park is big as well.

What it looks like — the exterior at night

After dark, two brick buildings stand side by side, with lines of bulb lights strung in several layers above them. On the right building, blue neon letters spell "HIGH GROUND", with the sign below reading "WOW! FRESHLY BAKED EVERYDAY", and a Hangul sign reading "하이그라운드" is over the central entrance. In front, a garden thick with hydrangeas and small conifers stretches out, and through the windows you can see interior light and people.

Menu words

• Jebangso means a place that bakes and sells its own bread

A bite of bread, a cup of tea

There is a real range of breads. Sit down with a cup of tea and bread from a master baker, and you get a short, easy break.

The Bukhansan pinecone bread (북한산솔방울빵) and the red-yeast-rice cream bun (홍국슈크림빵) are each 5,900 won (as of Oct 2026). With so many breads on display, it is easier to look and choose at the counter.

Getting there

You can walk from Bukhansanui Station (Ui-Sinseol Line). On the map it is around a kilometre, uphill toward the valley, so if you have time, it works as a pleasant walk.

By car, the car park is large. To avoid wrong turns, search "하이그라운드 제빵소" in your map app.

It works after dark too

It is open every day from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM, all year round (as of Oct 2026).

The main photo was taken at night: lights strung over the garden, and the building lit up with a HIGH GROUND sign and a sign promising freshly baked bread. It feels different from the valley by day, and suits a stop after a hike or at the end of an evening walk.

For visitors from abroad

• A bakery cafe is a large cafe that sells its own baked bread alongside coffee. In Korea you usually pick bread from the display and order and pay at the counter
• Myeongjang (名匠, "master craftsman") is an official title Korea gives to highly skilled tradespeople. This place serves bread from a master baker
• The sign reading HIGH GROUND is this place. In Korean map apps it comes up as "하이그라운드 제빵소"
• It is on the Bukhansan side of the city, not in central Seoul, so allow extra travel time

Before you go

• Phone — 02-991-5777
• Address for a taxi — 서울 강북구 삼양로181길 161
• Timing — weekends are busy in the whole area, so leave extra time
• If you take the subway — it is about a kilometre uphill from the station, so comfortable shoes help

Who it suits

• ✅ You are walking Bukhansan or the Ui-dong valley and want somewhere to rest
• ✅ You are driving and want a big bakery cafe without parking stress
• ✅ You like choosing from a wide display of breads
• ✅ You want to sit in the evening by a garden strung with lights
• ⚠️ Weekends are busy in the whole area
• ⚠️ If you rely only on the subway, expect a fair walk from the station