Hwasun Dolmen Site and Boseong-Suncheon-Yeosu-Goheung Getbol

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hwasun Dolmen Site

   Walk through the rice fields near Hwasun and you can lose count of the dolmens. Nearly six hundred of them lie scattered across the slopes at Hyosan-ri and Daesin-ri in South Jeolla, the biggest concentration in a trio of Korean sites that were listed as a World Heritage landmark in 2000. They are huge flat capstones balanced on smaller upright stones, some of them over a hundred tonnes, built roughly three thousand years ago in the Bronze Age by a society that left no written word. Korea has more dolmens than anywhere else in the world, perhaps around forty percent of all that exist, and this valley is where you feel it.

   Read the complete Hwasun Dolmen Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Hwasun Dolmen Site is where the day begins. Next is Seonamsa Temple.

2. 2. Seonamsa Temple

   An old stone bridge arches over a stream in the forest on the way up to Seonamsa, and the view through its curve to a pavilion beyond is one of the best known images of Korean temple architecture. The Seungseongyo bridge dates back to the Joseon period, and the temple behind it, on the slopes of Jogyesan mountain near Suncheon, has a history going back to the ninth century. Seonamsa is one of seven Korean Buddhist mountain monasteries listed in 2018 as Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea, chosen because they have remained centres of living religious practice for over a thousand years.

   Read the complete Seonamsa Temple write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Seonamsa Temple comes up about 69 km into the recorded legs. Next is Boseong-Suncheon-Yeosu-Goheung Getbol.

3. 3. Boseong-Suncheon-Yeosu-Goheung Getbol

   Korea's southern coast is a place where land and sea cannot decide who owns what. The tides here rise and fall by several metres, leaving wide mud flats, called getbol, that glitter in low light and fill with life. The Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats, were added to the UNESCO list in 2021 because they are a feeding ground for migratory birds travelling along the East Asian flyway, including rare ones such as the black-faced spoonbill. Boseong, Suncheon, Yeosu and Goheung are the four stretches here, strung along a coast of bays, islands and reed beds.

   Read the complete Boseong-Suncheon-Yeosu-Goheung Getbol write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 118 km into the recorded legs you reach Boseong-Suncheon-Yeosu-Goheung Getbol. Next is back through Seonamsa Temple.

4. 4. back through Seonamsa Temple

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Seonamsa Temple write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Seonamsa Temple, late in the day. Next is Hwasun Dolmen Site.

5. 5. Hwasun Dolmen Site

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hwasun Dolmen Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Hwasun Dolmen Site. That is the ride.