Why this ride
From Nonsan it runs 211 km to Nonsan; allow about 4 h 02 of riding. It goes by way of Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri, Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri, Magoksa Temple and Baekje Historic Areas.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Donam-seown and Baekje Historic Areas
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 211 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 02
- 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. Donam-seown
Donam Seowon is a Confucian academy in the countryside near Nonsan, in South Chungcheong province, and it is one of nine seowon that UNESCO listed together in 2019. Seowon were private academies founded by scholars of the Joseon dynasty, where young men studied the Confucian classics and honoured the memory of great teachers through rituals. Donam was founded in the early seventeenth century to commemorate Kim Jang-saeng, a renowned scholar of rites, and his students, and it played an important role in the intellectual life of the period.
Read the complete Donam-seown write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Donam-seown 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 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri.
3. Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
In 1971, workers digging drainage near a group of ancient burial mounds above the Geum river at Gongju broke into a brick tomb that had never been looted. Inside lay the remains and treasures of King Muryeong of Baekje, who died in 523, and his queen: gold crowns, ornaments, a stone tablet naming the king, and thousands of objects. It was one of the greatest archaeological finds in Korean history, and it is the centrepiece of the Royal Tombs at Songsan-ri, part of the Baekje Historic Areas World Heritage Site listed in 2015.
Read the complete Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 58 km into the recorded legs you reach Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri. Next is Magoksa Temple.
4. Magoksa Temple
Magoksa sits in a fold of Taehwasan mountain in South Chungcheong, a short drive from the old Baekje capital of Gongju, and it is the sort of temple that makes a good argument for getting out of the car. A stream runs beside the approach, maples and zelkova trees close overhead, and the main buildings sit within a double compound, one for monks and one for the Buddha. Its tradition goes back to the seventh century, though most of the present wooden halls are much younger, and its five-storey stone pagoda with a metal finial on top is unusual, since the top part shows Tibetan influence, possibly from the Yuan dynasty.
Read the complete Magoksa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Magoksa Temple, about halfway. Next is Baekje Historic Areas.
5. 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 sits at 104 km, about halfway. Next is back through Magoksa Temple.
6. back through Magoksa Temple
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Magoksa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Magoksa Temple comes up about 130 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri.
7. back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 152 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri. Next is back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Donam-seown.
9. Donam-seown
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Donam-seown 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 211 km.
Leg by leg
Donam-seown to Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri
Donam-seown → Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri to Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri → Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri to Magoksa Temple
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri → Magoksa Temple is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Magoksa Temple to Baekje Historic Areas
Magoksa Temple → Baekje Historic Areas is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Baekje Historic Areas to back through Magoksa Temple
Baekje Historic Areas → back through Magoksa Temple is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Magoksa Temple to back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
back through Magoksa Temple → back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri to back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri
back through Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri → back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri to Donam-seown
back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri → Donam-seown is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.