Why this ride
474 km from Hyeonpung to Hyeonpung, about 8 h 14 of riding. On the way it passes Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, Namgye-seowon, Seonamsa Temple and back through Namgye-seowon. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Dodong-seowon and Seonamsa Temple
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 474 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 14
- 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. Dodong-seowon
The ginkgo tree in front of Dodong-seowon is over four hundred years old, a massive trunk with branches spreading wide, and in early November it turns a brilliant yellow and sheds its leaves into a golden carpet that photographers come from all over Korea to see. Behind it, the academy itself climbs a gentle slope in a series of courtyards and wooden halls, with a view over the Nakdong river. Dodong-seowon was founded in the sixteenth century to honour Kim Goeng-pil, a Neo-Confucian scholar executed in a political purge, and it is one of the nine Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2019.
Read the complete Dodong-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dodong-seowon is where the day begins. Next is Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.
2. Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
High in the forested folds of Gayasan, in South Gyeongsang province, a temple keeps one of the great treasures of the Buddhist world. Haeinsa holds the Tripitaka Koreana, more than eighty thousand wooden printing blocks carved in the thirteenth century with the complete Buddhist scriptures, an act of devotion undertaken while the Mongols were invading Korea, in the hope that the Buddha's protection would save the country. The blocks are kept in the Janggyeong Panjeon, a pair of long, plain wooden halls built in the fifteenth century, and the halls are the real marvel. Their design uses natural ventilation, windows of different sizes on opposite walls, and a floor packed with charcoal, lime, clay and salt to regulate humidity and temperature, and they have protected the blocks for centuries without modern technology. The halls were listed by UNESCO in 1995.
Read the complete Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon comes up about 61 km into the recorded legs. Next is Namgye-seowon.
3. Namgye-seowon
Hamyang is a quiet county in the mountains of South Gyeongsang, on the eastern edge of Jirisan, the great massif in the south of the Korean peninsula, and Namgye-seowon stands on a gentle slope a few kilometres from the county town. Founded in 1552 to honour the Neo-Confucian scholar Jeong Yeo-chang, it was one of the earliest private academies in Korea and served as a model for many others. Its layout set a pattern: the lecture hall at the front, dormitories on either side, and the shrine for the rites at the top of the slope, so that the buildings climb the hill in a hierarchy of importance. Unusually, the dormitories have small raised pavilions overlooking ponds, where students could rest and contemplate the landscape. Namgye is part of the UNESCO listing of the Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies.
Read the complete Namgye-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 124 km into the recorded legs you reach Namgye-seowon. Next is Seonamsa Temple.
4. Seonamsa Temple
An old stone bridge arches over a stream in the forest on the way up to Seonamsa, and the view through its curve to a pavilion beyond is one of the best known images of Korean temple architecture. The Seungseongyo bridge dates back to the Joseon period, and the temple behind it, on the slopes of Jogyesan mountain near Suncheon, has a history going back to the ninth century. Seonamsa is one of seven Korean Buddhist mountain monasteries listed in 2018 as Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea, chosen because they have remained centres of living religious practice for over a thousand years.
Read the complete Seonamsa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Seonamsa Temple, about halfway. Next is back through Namgye-seowon.
5. back through Namgye-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Namgye-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Namgye-seowon sits at 254 km, about halfway. Next is back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.
6. back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon comes up about 418 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dodong-seowon.
7. Dodong-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dodong-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dodong-seowon closes the day.
Leg by leg
Dodong-seowon to Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Dodong-seowon → Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon to Namgye-seowon
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon → Namgye-seowon is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Namgye-seowon to Seonamsa Temple
Namgye-seowon → Seonamsa Temple is 116 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Seonamsa Temple to back through Namgye-seowon
Seonamsa Temple → back through Namgye-seowon is 115 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Namgye-seowon to back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
back through Namgye-seowon → back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon to Dodong-seowon
back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon → Dodong-seowon is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.