Why this ride
200 km from Seongnam-si to Seongnam-si, about 3 h 48 of riding. It goes by way of Donggureung Cluster, Olleung Cluster, Jangneung Cluster and back through Olleung Cluster. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Area 2 and Jangneung Cluster
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 200 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 48
- 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. Area 2
Built and expanded as an emergency capital in the early seventeenth century, its walls run for kilometres along the ridges, with gates, command posts and temples inside, and it became a World Heritage site in 2014. The fortress is remembered for a bitter episode: in the winter of 1636 to 1637, King Injo fled here as the armies of the Qing invaded, and after a siege of more than forty days in the cold, he came down and submitted, kneeling before the Qing emperor. Koreans still regard it as a moment of national humiliation and resilience at the same time.
Read the complete Area 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Area 2 is where the day begins. Next is Donggureung Cluster.
2. Donggureung Cluster
Nine kings and ten queens of the Joseon dynasty lie at Donggureung, in the city of Guri, just north-east of Seoul. The name means the Eastern Nine Tombs, and it is the largest royal burial ground of the dynasty, which ruled Korea for over five centuries from 1392 to 1910. The tombs are spread across a wooded hillside, each a grassy mound surrounded by stone figures of officials and animals, set according to the rules of geomancy with a mountain behind and water in front.
Read the complete Donggureung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Donggureung Cluster comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Olleung Cluster.
3. Olleung Cluster
Seoul's royal tombs are not all in the city centre, and the ones on this stretch lie in the green country just to the north-west, in a belt of forest, farmland and expanding suburbs that stretches towards the border. The cluster on our list is one of several groups of Joseon dynasty burial mounds, and the nearest sizeable town is Uijeongbu, nearly half a million people, with Goyang just beyond it.
Read the complete Olleung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Olleung Cluster. Next is Jangneung Cluster.
4. Jangneung Cluster
North-west of Seoul, close to where the Imjin river flows into the Han and the demilitarised zone cuts the Korean peninsula in two, lies a royal tomb: Jangneung, the resting place of King Injo, who ruled Joseon in the seventeenth century, and his queen. Injo's reign was marked by invasions from the Manchu, and he was forced to humiliate himself before the Qing emperor in 1637, a defeat that still resonates in Korean memory. His tomb, like the other Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2009, is a grassy mound on a hillside, guarded by stone figures of officials, warriors and animals, with a T-shaped shrine below.
Read the complete Jangneung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jangneung Cluster, about halfway. Next is back through Olleung Cluster.
5. back through Olleung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Olleung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Olleung Cluster sits at 109 km, about halfway. Next is back through Donggureung Cluster.
6. back through Donggureung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Donggureung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Donggureung Cluster comes up about 156 km into the recorded legs. Next is Area 2.
7. Area 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Area 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Area 2 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Area 2 to Donggureung Cluster
Area 2 → Donggureung Cluster is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Donggureung Cluster to Olleung Cluster
Donggureung Cluster → Olleung Cluster is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Olleung Cluster to Jangneung Cluster
Olleung Cluster → Jangneung Cluster is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jangneung Cluster to back through Olleung Cluster
Jangneung Cluster → back through Olleung Cluster is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Olleung Cluster to back through Donggureung Cluster
back through Olleung Cluster → back through Donggureung Cluster is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Donggureung Cluster to Area 2
back through Donggureung Cluster → Area 2 is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.