Why this ride
230 km from Guri-si to Guri-si, about 3 h 46 of riding. On the way it passes Heolleung Cluster, Hwaseong Fortress, Seosan Getbol and back through Hwaseong Fortress. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Donggureung Cluster and Seosan Getbol
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 230 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 46
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Heolleung Cluster.
2. Heolleung Cluster
In the south of Seoul, wedged between highways, apartment towers and the Daemosan hills, a forest of oak and pine hides two royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty. Heolleung is the tomb of King Taejong, the third king of Joseon, who ruled in the early fifteenth century, and his queen Wongyeong, and nearby lies Inneung, the tomb of King Sunjo and his queen from the nineteenth century. Together they form one of the clusters of the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, listed by UNESCO in 2009.
Read the complete Heolleung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Heolleung Cluster comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hwaseong Fortress.
3. Hwaseong Fortress
Hwaseong is a love letter from a son to his father, written in stone. In 1762, Crown Prince Sado was locked in a rice chest by his own father, King Yeongjo, and left to die, one of the darkest episodes in Korean royal history. His son, who became King Jeongjo, never forgot, and he moved his father's tomb to a site near Suwon and built a grand fortress there, completed in 1796, intended perhaps as a new capital. The engineer and scholar Jeong Yak-yong used cranes and pulleys to speed up construction, and the walls, gates, towers and bastions combine Korean, Chinese and Western ideas of fortification. UNESCO listed it in 1997.
Read the complete Hwaseong Fortress write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 59 km into the recorded legs you reach Hwaseong Fortress. Next is Seosan Getbol.
4. Seosan Getbol
Korea's west coast has some of the largest tides on earth. Twice a day the Yellow Sea pulls back for kilometres, exposing vast shining mud flats, the getbol, laced with channels and alive with crabs, mudskippers, worms and shellfish. UNESCO has listed a series of these Korean tidal flats for their extraordinary biodiversity and for the millions of migratory shorebirds that stop here to feed on their way between Siberia and Australia.
Read the complete Seosan Getbol write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Seosan Getbol, about halfway. Next is back through Hwaseong Fortress.
5. back through Hwaseong Fortress
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hwaseong Fortress write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hwaseong Fortress sits at 154 km, about halfway. Next is back through Heolleung Cluster.
6. back through Heolleung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Heolleung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Heolleung Cluster comes up about 204 km into the recorded legs. Next is Donggureung Cluster.
7. 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
Donggureung Cluster closes the day.
Leg by leg
Donggureung Cluster to Heolleung Cluster
Donggureung Cluster → Heolleung Cluster is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Heolleung Cluster to Hwaseong Fortress
Heolleung Cluster → Hwaseong Fortress is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hwaseong Fortress to Seosan Getbol
Hwaseong Fortress → Seosan Getbol is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seosan Getbol to back through Hwaseong Fortress
Seosan Getbol → back through Hwaseong Fortress is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hwaseong Fortress to back through Heolleung Cluster
back through Hwaseong Fortress → back through Heolleung Cluster is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Heolleung Cluster to Donggureung Cluster
back through Heolleung Cluster → Donggureung Cluster is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.