Why this ride
A 185 km round trip from Jinjeop - roughly 4 h 15 in the saddle. On the way it passes Sareung Cluster, Uireung Cluster, Hongyureung Cluster and Namhansanseong.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Gwangneung Cluster\t and Namhansanseong
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 185 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 15
- 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. Gwangneung Cluster\t
Gwangneung is the tomb of King Sejo of Joseon and his queen, Jeonghui, and it sits inside one of the best-preserved forests in Korea, north-east of Seoul between Namyangju and Pocheon. Sejo seized the throne in 1455 from his young nephew Danjong, who was later exiled and killed, and he spent much of his reign strengthening royal power. In death, though, he asked for modesty: he ordered that his tomb be built without the usual stone burial chamber and without some of the stone ornaments, to save the people labour and expense. The two mounds lie on separate ridges, with a shrine between them.
Read the complete Gwangneung Cluster\t write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gwangneung Cluster\t is where the day begins. Next is Sareung Cluster.
2. Sareung Cluster
A queen who outlived her husband by more than sixty years lies here. Sareung is the tomb of Queen Jeongsun, wife of King Danjong, the boy king of the Joseon dynasty who was deposed by his uncle in 1455 and later killed in exile. Jeongsun lived on in poverty outside the capital, and the story of her loyalty and grief became one of the most moving in Korean history. Her tomb, a grassy mound guarded by stone figures and approached along a path through pine forest, is one of the forty Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty listed together as a World Heritage Site in 2009.
Read the complete Sareung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sareung Cluster comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Uireung Cluster.
3. Uireung Cluster
Seoul is a city of ten million people, and it still has forested royal burial grounds on its edge. The Joseon dynasty, which ruled Korea from 1392 to 1910, buried its kings and queens in forty tombs scattered around the capital, each placed according to the rules of geomancy, with a hill behind, water in front, and a quiet clearing for ancestral rites. Nearly all of them survive, and in 2009 they were inscribed together as a World Heritage site. The cluster on this stretch of the map, east of the city towards Guri, belongs to that family of graves.
Read the complete Uireung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 39 km into the recorded legs you reach Uireung Cluster. Next is Hongyureung Cluster.
4. Hongyureung Cluster
The Joseon dynasty lasted from 1392 until 1910, and its kings and queens were laid to rest in a scattering of forested tombs around Seoul, forty of which are on the World Heritage list. Hongyureung is the name for two of them close to Namyangju, Hongneung and Yureung, which belong to the last two rulers of Korea. Hongneung is the resting place of Gojong, who proclaimed the Korean Empire in 1897 and died in 1919, in mysterious circumstances, just before the great independence uprising of that year. Yureung holds his son Sunjong, the last emperor, who lost his throne when Japan annexed Korea.
Read the complete Hongyureung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hongyureung Cluster, about halfway. Next is Namhansanseong.
5. Namhansanseong
Just beyond the south-eastern edge of Seoul, the city stops abruptly against wooded mountains, and on top of them runs a stone wall with gates, watchtowers and command posts. Namhansanseong was built as an emergency capital, a mountain fortress where the king and court could retreat in time of invasion, and in the winter of 1636 to 1637 it was put to the test. King Injo fled here from the invading Qing army and held out for forty-seven days before hunger and the fall of other strongholds forced him to surrender. The fortress became a World Heritage Site in 2014.
Read the complete Namhansanseong write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Namhansanseong sits at 79 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hongyureung Cluster.
6. back through Hongyureung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hongyureung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hongyureung Cluster comes up about 130 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Uireung Cluster.
7. back through Uireung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Uireung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 148 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Uireung Cluster. Next is back through Sareung Cluster.
8. back through Sareung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sareung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sareung Cluster, late in the day. Next is Gwangneung Cluster\t.
9. Gwangneung Cluster\t
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gwangneung Cluster\t 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 185 km.
Leg by leg
Gwangneung Cluster\t to Sareung Cluster
Gwangneung Cluster\t → Sareung Cluster is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sareung Cluster to Uireung Cluster
Sareung Cluster → Uireung Cluster is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Uireung Cluster to Hongyureung Cluster
Uireung Cluster → Hongyureung Cluster is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hongyureung Cluster to Namhansanseong
Hongyureung Cluster → Namhansanseong is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Namhansanseong to back through Hongyureung Cluster
Namhansanseong → back through Hongyureung Cluster is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hongyureung Cluster to back through Uireung Cluster
back through Hongyureung Cluster → back through Uireung Cluster is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Uireung Cluster to back through Sareung Cluster
back through Uireung Cluster → back through Sareung Cluster is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sareung Cluster to Gwangneung Cluster\t
back through Sareung Cluster → Gwangneung Cluster\t is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.