Yeongwol campground pick C4 and ₩300,000 long stays: Maru Pension

The weather's been so good lately that I've been going on evening walks a lot, and I started craving a trip out of Seoul — so we decided on Gangwon-do, Yeongwol!

September just has to include a camping trip, so I went looking for a campground in Yeongwol.

I always fail to book a river-view campground, and this time I really wanted to succeed — and luckily I found one with a genuinely great view, and got the booking! Yeongwol has so many good restaurants and great campgrounds too, it's really worth taking the time to travel there.

What kind of campground is Maru Pension Camping Site, Yeongwol

So the campground I visited this time is Maru Pension Camping Site in Yeongwol! To cut to the conclusion first: the Pyeongchang River view is really great, the owner is kind, it's well managed, and it's a quiet campground!

I liked that the family zone and adult-only zone are separated. Facing the river as you come down, Family Zone F is on the left, and Zone C on the right is for 2 adults.

You can check the site layout map from the photos. You can book through Naver Reservations. I find Naver Reservations way more convenient than Camppit.

Maru Camping's best spot: C4, not C3

My husband and I visited as a couple and used Zone C, and after trying it myself, my recommended best spot is C4! It had the prettiest shade and river view, and the tree placement was just right for pitching. In photo order it's C2, C3, C4 — a lot of people say C3 is the best spot at Maru Camping in Yeongwol, but there's a tree right in the middle, so I want to recommend C4 instead.

Since I visited on a weekday, the owner let us use both C3 and C4, so we pitched on both sites, but C4 alone is already spacious and a great spot.

Sinks, showers, restrooms, and layout

And like I said, the sinks, showers, and restrooms are really clean! There were plenty of sink spots, and you could throw away both general and recyclable trash right there, which made the flow really convenient. When you're camping, this stuff quietly matters a lot. It's also close to downtown Juchon, Yeongwol, so it made for a nice route — eat lunch, come pitch the tent, eat lunch again the next day, then head back to Seoul haha.

Honestly, with a view this good you could put up with some inconvenience, but the restroom and sink layout is great and the campground is well managed too, so I really want to recommend it.

₩300,000 long-term stay, the Pyeongchang River in every season

Maru Pension Camping Site in Yeongwol runs both a pension and a campground, and since the per-night price isn't too burdensome, when it's too cold or too hot you could enjoy camping outside and sleep in the pension instead! Because the river is just the right depth for play, and even snorkeling is possible, it's really great to come in summer! But apparently in winter this river freezes solid enough to go sledding. How could you not come here..! And the owner told me — long-term stays are ₩300,000!

In winter, if it snows, they say they'll manage your tent 24 hours — this price makes no sense for that. I seriously considered doing a long-term stay with my husband. If you do a long-term stay in December, you can cover the weekends through Christmas and year-end, and ₩300,000 really is a steal. We even talked about doing it like a one-month stay in Yeongwol! Long-term stays are available from November, so if you're considering a long-term camping spot in Yeongwol, I recommend this one!

What we ate at C4

After pitching, we had that combo that's trending on reels lately — potato chips, arugula, jam, cheese, olive oil — with non-alcoholic craft beer. You have no idea how good that tastes right after pitching!

Then after a quick nap (mandatory), dinner was beef~! It was a hanwoo (Korean beef) set bought from a butcher shop in Yangpyeong before heading to Seoul, and I was so impressed with the quality for the price — I'll do a separate review of this!

How about the fact that I packed cheese, asparagus, wasabi, and truffle salt to grill and eat with the beef, lol.

After that, my husband cooked me Neoguri (ramyeon) exactly to my taste, so what was supposed to be one packet turned into two haha;; Perfectly chewy noodles, sauce soaked all the way through. When we go camping we usually skip late-night snacks and go to bed early, so we fell asleep around 10 — and maybe because the campground is so well managed, it was really quiet and we slept like babies.

Breakfast with the Pyeongchang River view, and the owner's homemade gimbap

The next morning we had warm coffee, fruit, and a sandwich I made. Looking out at the Pyeongchang River, it was seriously the best ㅠ_ㅠ! Remember, the best spot at Maru Camping is C4!

My husband even got me a life-shot, even if it's just from behind.

The owner even gave us homemade gimbap (seaweed rice roll), so after packing up, we set out just the chairs and table and ate it — why is homemade gimbap so good... We ate it happily and headed back to Seoul!! Such a great Pyeongchang River-view campground in Yeongwol, definitely going back to that best spot!