Why this ride
167 km from Suwon to Suwon, about 3 h 05 of riding. It goes by way of Heolleung Cluster, Donggureung Cluster, Olleung Cluster and back through Donggureung Cluster.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hwaseong Fortress and Olleung Cluster
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 167 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 05
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. 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
Hwaseong Fortress 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 27 km in. Next is Donggureung Cluster.
3. 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
54 km in you reach Donggureung Cluster. Next is Olleung Cluster.
4. Olleung Cluster
Seoul's royal tombs are not all in the city centre, and the ones on this stretch lie in the green country just to the north-west, in a belt of forest, farmland and expanding suburbs that stretches towards the border. The cluster on our list is one of several groups of Joseon dynasty burial mounds, and the nearest sizeable town is Uijeongbu, nearly half a million people, with Goyang just beyond it.
Read the complete Olleung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Olleung Cluster, about halfway. Next is back through Donggureung Cluster.
5. back through 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
back through Donggureung Cluster sits at 107 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 134 km in. Next is Hwaseong Fortress.
7. 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
Hwaseong Fortress closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hwaseong Fortress to Heolleung Cluster
Hwaseong Fortress → Heolleung Cluster is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Heolleung Cluster to Donggureung Cluster
Heolleung Cluster → Donggureung Cluster is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Donggureung Cluster to Olleung Cluster
Donggureung Cluster → Olleung Cluster is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Olleung Cluster to back through Donggureung Cluster
Olleung Cluster → back through Donggureung Cluster is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Donggureung Cluster to back through Heolleung Cluster
back through Donggureung Cluster → back through Heolleung Cluster is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Heolleung Cluster to Hwaseong Fortress
back through Heolleung Cluster → Hwaseong Fortress is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.