Why this ride
From Gongju it runs 252 km to Gongju; allow about 4 h 34 of riding. On the way it passes Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri, Mireuksa Temple Site, Seocheon Getbol and back through Mireuksa Temple Site. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Baekje Historic Areas and Seocheon Getbol
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 252 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 34
- 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. Baekje Historic Areas
Gongju is where the kingdom of Baekje retreated when it was almost destroyed. In 475 the armies of Goguryeo, the northern rival, swept south and took the capital at Hanseong, near modern Seoul, killing the king, and the survivors moved the court to Ungjin, as Gongju was then called, a defensible site on the Geum river with a fortress on the hill above. For about sixty years it served as the capital, until the court moved further south to Sabi, now Buyeo, in 538. The UNESCO listing of Baekje Historic Areas, in 2015, covers Gongju, Buyeo and Iksan.
Read the complete Baekje Historic Areas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Baekje Historic Areas is where the day begins. Next is Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri.
2. Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri
Seven grassy mounds rise on a hillside outside Buyeo, smooth and green, looking almost like a landscape garden. They are the royal tombs of Neungsan-ri, burial places of kings of Baekje, one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea, during the period when Buyeo, then called Sabi, was its capital, from 538 to 660. The tombs were robbed long ago, but their stone chambers survive, and one has painted walls showing the guardian animals of the four directions and lotus flowers. They are part of the UNESCO listing of the Baekje historic areas, together with sites in Gongju, Buyeo and Iksan.
Read the complete Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mireuksa Temple Site.
3. Mireuksa Temple Site
On a wide plain near Iksan, in the south-west of Korea, a large stone pagoda stands beneath a mountain, slightly incomplete and all the more striking for it. This is the west pagoda of Mireuksa, once the largest Buddhist temple of the Baekje kingdom, founded in the early seventh century by King Mu. The pagoda is the oldest and largest surviving stone pagoda in Korea, and after decades of collapse and a cement repair in the early twentieth century, it was carefully dismantled and restored in a project that took around twenty years, finishing in 2019. The temple site is part of the Baekje Historic Areas, listed by UNESCO in 2015.
Read the complete Mireuksa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 78 km into the recorded legs you reach Mireuksa Temple Site. Next is Seocheon Getbol.
4. Seocheon Getbol
The tide here goes out so far that the sea simply disappears. The Seocheon getbol, a vast sweep of tidal flats on the west coast of Korea where the Geum river meets the Yellow Sea, is one of four areas listed by UNESCO in 2021 as the Korean Tidal Flats. Twice a day the water withdraws over kilometres of glistening mud and sand, leaving channels, pools and a hum of life: crabs, worms, shellfish and mudskippers, and above all birds.
Read the complete Seocheon Getbol write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Seocheon Getbol, about halfway. Next is back through Mireuksa Temple Site.
5. back through Mireuksa Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mireuksa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mireuksa Temple Site sits at 170 km, about halfway. Next is back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri.
6. back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri comes up about 219 km into the recorded legs. Next is Baekje Historic Areas.
7. Baekje Historic Areas
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Baekje Historic Areas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Baekje Historic Areas closes the day.
Leg by leg
Baekje Historic Areas to Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri
Baekje Historic Areas → Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri to Mireuksa Temple Site
Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri → Mireuksa Temple Site is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mireuksa Temple Site to Seocheon Getbol
Mireuksa Temple Site → Seocheon Getbol is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seocheon Getbol to back through Mireuksa Temple Site
Seocheon Getbol → back through Mireuksa Temple Site is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mireuksa Temple Site to back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri
back through Mireuksa Temple Site → back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri to Baekje Historic Areas
back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri → Baekje Historic Areas is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.