Why this ride
A 183 km round trip from Dongnae - roughly 3 h 09 in the saddle. On the way it passes Gaya Tumuli, Daeseong-dong Tumuli, Tongdosa Temple and Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Busan afternoon · Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 183 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 09
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Busan
Busan is Korea's great port, a long, steep city of more than three million squeezed between mountains and sea in the south-east corner of the peninsula. Container cranes line the harbour, ferries leave for Japan and fishing boats unload at Jagalchi market, where women in rubber aprons sell live octopus, eels and fish from tanks. The city has the energy and sharp tongue of a seaport, and its dialect is distinctly rougher than Seoul's.
Read the complete Busan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Busan is where the day begins. Next is Gaya Tumuli.
2. Gaya Tumuli
Right in the middle of Gimhae, a busy city just west of Busan, a low ridge of grassy mounds rises between apartment blocks and roads. These are the Daeseong-dong tumuli, the burial ground of the rulers of Geumgwan Gaya, one of the small kingdoms of the Gaya confederacy that flourished in the south of the Korean peninsula from the first centuries AD until it was absorbed by Silla in the sixth century. In 2023 a group of Gaya burial sites, including these, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Read the complete Gaya Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gaya Tumuli comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Daeseong-dong Tumuli.
3. Daeseong-dong Tumuli
The tumuli of Daeseong-dong lie on a low hill above the Gimhae plain, close to the Nakdong river delta in the south-east of Korea. They are the royal cemetery of Geumgwan Gaya, one of the small kingdoms of the Gaya confederacy, which flourished alongside the better-known Three Kingdoms of the Korean peninsula, and for centuries after it was swallowed up by its neighbour Silla in 532, it was largely forgotten. Archaeology has changed that. Excavations show a wealthy society, strong on iron, which was exported to Japan and to the Chinese colonies to the north, and the burials contain armour, horse gear, pottery and iron ingots that served almost as currency. UNESCO listed the Gaya Tumuli in 2023.
Read the complete Daeseong-dong Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 25 km into the recorded legs you reach Daeseong-dong Tumuli. Next is Tongdosa Temple.
4. Tongdosa Temple
Most Korean Buddhist temples have a statue of the Buddha in their main hall. Tongdosa does not. Instead, a window behind the altar looks out onto a stone stupa that is said to contain relics of the historical Buddha, brought back from China by the monk Jajang, who founded the temple in 646. That makes Tongdosa one of the Three Jewel Temples of Korea, representing the Buddha himself, alongside Haeinsa, representing the teaching, and Songgwangsa, the community of monks. It is part of the UNESCO-listed Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea, inscribed in 2018.
Read the complete Tongdosa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tongdosa Temple, about halfway. Next is Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream.
5. Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream
On a cliff face above a quiet stream in the hills west of Ulsan, prehistoric people carved hundreds of images into the rock: whales, turtles, deer, tigers, boats full of men, hunters with spears and nets. The whales are the most striking, with species that can still be identified, such as right whales and humpbacks, and scenes that seem to show whaling from boats, making the Bangudae petroglyphs one of the oldest records of whaling anywhere. A little upstream, the Cheonjeon-ri petroglyphs, with geometric patterns, animals and later inscriptions from the Silla period, add another layer. In 2025, the Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Read the complete Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream sits at 94 km, about halfway. Next is back through Tongdosa Temple.
6. back through Tongdosa Temple
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tongdosa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Tongdosa Temple comes up about 113 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Daeseong-dong Tumuli.
7. back through Daeseong-dong Tumuli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Daeseong-dong Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 159 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Daeseong-dong Tumuli. Next is back through Gaya Tumuli.
8. back through Gaya Tumuli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gaya Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Gaya Tumuli, late in the day. Next is Busan.
9. Busan
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Busan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 183 km.
Leg by leg
Busan to Gaya Tumuli
Busan → Gaya Tumuli is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Daeseong-dong Tumuli to Tongdosa Temple
Daeseong-dong Tumuli → Tongdosa Temple is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tongdosa Temple to Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream
Tongdosa Temple → Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream to back through Tongdosa Temple
Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream → back through Tongdosa Temple is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tongdosa Temple to back through Daeseong-dong Tumuli
back through Tongdosa Temple → back through Daeseong-dong Tumuli is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gaya Tumuli to Busan
back through Gaya Tumuli → Busan is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.