North Gyeongsang tourism body picks three green getaways for June: Gyeongju, Yeongcheon and Cheongdo

The North Gyeongsang Cultural Tourism Corporation on Thursday named three lush destinations as its June picks for the monthly "North Gyeongsang Travel in Photos" series, selecting sites where visitors can find rest and renewal in nature.

The three spots are Gyeongju's Millennium Forest Garden, the metasequoia trail at Yeongcheon Ecological Park, and Cheongdo Eupseong Fortress in Cheongdo.

The Millennium Forest Garden sits at the foot of Namsan in Gyeongju and is North Gyeongsang Province's first designated local garden. For more than 50 years, the site was closed to the public for forestry research, leaving it a hidden ecological treasure that has only recently been opened.

Decades without human interference have left the forest in a near-primeval state, its dense canopy fully intact. In June, the garden — spanning the equivalent of 46 soccer fields — is blanketed in dozens of shades of green as the forest reaches the peak of its vitality.

The standout attractions are by far the single-log bridge spanning a clear stream and the surrounding "mirror forest" that frames it.

The metasequoia trail winding through Yeongcheon Ecological Park is one of the city's most beloved retreats.

With no elaborate man-made structures in sight, the trail lets the sheer scale, texture and color of the trees do all the work, leaving visitors quietly overwhelmed.

June is the ideal month to visit: the trees are at their most vigorous, pushing out leaves so densely that they form an unbroken green canopy and cast the path in near-total shade.

Towering metasequoias rise straight up on both sides of the walkway, their uppermost branches meeting overhead to create a vast natural ceiling.

Cheongdo Eupseong Fortress takes on a painterly quality in June, its rough gray-brown stone walls rising above an unbroken carpet of vivid green grass in a striking contrast of color.

Unlike fortress walls in urban centers, the site is free of tall buildings that might crowd the view. Walking along the ramparts, visitors look out over Cheongdo's tranquil farmland and open fields stretching to the horizon.

Particularly striking is Yeonji, a pond just beside the fortress walls whose surface is completely covered by large green lotus leaves in June. When the wind picks up, the leaves ripple in unison, giving the impression of green waves rolling across the water.

Kim Nam-il, president of the North Gyeongsang Cultural Tourism Corporation, encouraged visitors to "step away from the frustrations of daily life, walk through North Gyeongsang's fresh forests and quiet old fortress paths, refresh your eyes and mind, and recharge with the energy you'll need to get through the summer ahead."