CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
From Seongnam-si it runs 323 km to Seongnam-si; allow about 6 h 12 of riding. It goes by way of Seooreung Cluster, Gwangneung Cluster\t, Pajusamreung Cluster and Seosan Getbol. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Heolleung Cluster is where the day begins. Next is Seooreung Cluster.
Joseon kings chose their final resting places with the same care they gave to their palaces, and the Seooreung cluster in Goyang, just north-west of Seoul, shows how. The name means the five tombs of the west, and the forested grounds contain the burial mounds of several Joseon kings and queens from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Each tomb follows the principles of pungsu, the Korean form of geomancy: a mountain behind for protection, open land in front, ideally with water flowing past. The mound sits on a terrace, surrounded by stone figures of officials, warriors and animals standing guard, and below is a T-shaped shrine where rites were held. The forty Joseon royal tombs were added to the World Heritage list together in 2009.
Read the complete Seooreung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Seooreung Cluster comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 74 km into the recorded legs you reach Gwangneung Cluster\t. Next is Pajusamreung Cluster.
Close to the most heavily fortified border in the world, three royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty lie in a quiet pine forest in Paju, north of Seoul. Pajusamreung, the three tombs of Paju, include the resting places of Queen Jangsun and Queen Gonghye, both married to kings and both of whom died young, and of King Jinjong, honoured after his early death. Like all the Joseon royal tombs, they follow a precise layout of spirit gates, stone paths, shrines and grass mounds guarded by stone officials and animals, and they are part of the World Heritage listing of the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty.
Read the complete Pajusamreung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Pajusamreung Cluster, about halfway. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Seosan Getbol sits at 158 km, about halfway. Next is back through Pajusamreung Cluster.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pajusamreung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Pajusamreung Cluster comes up about 210 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Gwangneung Cluster\t.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gwangneung Cluster\t write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 249 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Gwangneung Cluster\t. Next is back through Seooreung Cluster.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Seooreung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Seooreung Cluster, late in the day. Next is Heolleung Cluster.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Heolleung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 323 km.
Heolleung Cluster → Seooreung Cluster is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seooreung Cluster → Gwangneung Cluster\t is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gwangneung Cluster\t → Pajusamreung Cluster is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pajusamreung Cluster → Seosan Getbol is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seosan Getbol → back through Pajusamreung Cluster is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pajusamreung Cluster → back through Gwangneung Cluster\t is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gwangneung Cluster\t → back through Seooreung Cluster is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Seooreung Cluster → Heolleung Cluster is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.