Up the ravine from its mouth there is the Kumgang Falls. The stream flowing down the ravine falls over a narrow cliff to form the waterfall. It was named so because it is fascinatingly beautiful. On a high rock on the left of the falls stands the Kumgang Pavilion that commands a fine view of the surrounding scenery. Farther up from the Kumgang Falls you come to the Taeha Falls. Its name means that it lies at the base of Inho Rock. Water coming down from the Ryongyon Falls and the Sanju Falls joins to flow down over a precipice looking like steps to form the Taeha Falls.
Farther up, cliffs rise high in front of you, and on the left of the cliffs is the Ryongyon Falls, one of the largest waterfalls of the mountain. It is 84 metres high. On the rock overhanging the waterfall is the mysterious Ryong (dragon) Pool, which gave the waterfall its name. Water flowing down the ravine of Popwang Peak slides over a rock into the pool to fall over a cliff to form the Ryongyon Falls that looks like unrolled white silks hanging from the sky. Its water again falls down a high sloping cliff with a roaring sound. As a typically sloping waterfall, it falls sending silvery sprays up into the air. Up the water course of the waterfall there is a broad bedrock on which are inscribed the words Ryongyon and the letters sinsongulthaek unhadongchon that means “Is this a fairyland? Sprays are sent up into the air,” a line of poem written by Yang Sa On, a 16th century writer.
Fifty metres away from the Ryongyon Falls there is the Sanju Falls. The two waterfalls flank the Sangwon Hermitage, so they are also called twin falls. Unlike the Ryongyon Falls, the Sanju Falls is an upright waterfall. The name of the waterfall means that it seems to throw up tens of thousands of beads into the air.
A little way up the water course from the Ryongyon Falls, towards Popwang Peak, there is the Chonsin Falls. Seen from Ryongju Peak on the east of the Sangwon Ravine, the waterfall looks like an unworldly man descending from the heaven. Hence the name Chonsin Falls. At a close range you can see the stream flowing over tiered cliffs.
By the Ryongyon Falls opposite the Sangwon Hermitage there rises a high and large rock called Inho Rock. The name of the rock derived from the tale about a tiger that showed a traveler the way up to the hermitage from below the Ryongyon Falls. The rock looking like a long ship singularly protrudes from the southwest edge of the precipitous cliff of the Ryongyon Falls. Grand and singular and topping a 200-metre-high cliff, the rock is famous as a splendid look-out platform. On the rock stands a pavilion that commands a fine view of the ravine. From the pavilion one can see three waterfalls of different forms at the same time. It is a sight rarely to be seen elsewhere. From olden times it has been noted as one of the eight fine sceneries of Myohyang Mountain. The surrounding scenery is as beautiful as a landscape picture with the Sangwon Hermitage in thick foliage and large waterfalls cascading down with roaring sounds over steep cliffs before and behind the hermitage.
The view of the moon from the Pulyong Cell is also noted as another of the eight scenic beauties of the mountain. The Pulyong Cell is an old building situated beyond two low ridges east of the hermitage. Beside the Sangwon Hermitage, there is the Nungin Hermitage in the Sangwon Ravine. Of all hermitages on the mountain, it is placed highest, backed by famous Popwang Peak that consists of precipices without a single tree. Flanked by Oson Peak to the east and Kwanum Peak to the west, Popwang Peak is a mass of rocks of myriad shapes.
A little way up to the east of the Sangwon Hermitage there is a long rock called Ryonggak Rock because it looks like a dragon’s horn. Several pine trees growing on the curiously shaped rock add to its attraction. Go round the rock and you will come to the Chuksong Temple on an elevation. The temple has the best mural paintings in the Mt. Myohyang area.
With a crystal-clear stream running down over clean stones between large fantastic rocks in thick forests to form waterfalls and blue pools, soaring peaks with fine views, and old buildings on scenic spots, the Sangwon Ravine is noted for its beautiful scenery in the mountain. So, the ravine with its wonderful scenic beauty is well-known in the world.
[...] The Sangwon Ravine is on the southern slopes of Popwang and Oson peaks in Mt. Myohyang. It was named after the old Sangwon Hermitage situated on a slope of the ravine. [...]
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