Hwasun Dolmen Site and Koch'ang Dolmen Site

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 Muan Hamhaeman Getbol.

2. 2. Muan Hamhaeman Getbol

   The southwest coast of Korea is a maze of bays, peninsulas and islands, and when the tide goes out, it reveals immense mudflats, the getbol, stretching to the horizon. Hamhae Bay, in Muan county, is one of the finest examples, a sheltered bay where the tides deposit fine mud rich in nutrients, supporting an extraordinary variety of life: crabs, shellfish, worms, mudskippers and octopus, and the birds that feed on them. The Korean tidal flats were listed by UNESCO in 2021, recognising their importance for migratory birds on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, including endangered species like the spoon-billed sandpiper and the black-faced spoonbill.

   Read the complete Muan Hamhaeman Getbol write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Muan Hamhaeman Getbol comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is Koch'ang Dolmen Site.

3. 3. Koch'ang Dolmen Site

   Korea has a remarkable concentration of the world's dolmens, and Gochang, on the southwest coast, has the largest cluster of all. Hundreds of these megalithic tombs are scattered along the foot of a range of low hills, some standing like tables on stone legs, others with a massive capstone resting almost directly on the ground. They were built during the Bronze Age by the people who farmed these lands, as tombs for the elite or as markers of territory and ritual. Together with the dolmen sites at Hwasun and on Ganghwa Island, they were listed by UNESCO in 2000.

   Read the complete Koch'ang Dolmen Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 150 km into the recorded legs you reach Koch'ang Dolmen Site. Next is back through Muan Hamhaeman Getbol.

4. 4. back through Muan Hamhaeman Getbol

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Muan Hamhaeman Getbol write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Muan Hamhaeman Getbol, 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.