Why this ride
From Tanhyeon it runs 251 km to Tanhyeon; allow about 3 h 50 of riding. On the way it passes Sareung Cluster, Yeongneung Cluster and back through Sareung Cluster. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Jangneung Cluster and Yeongneung Cluster
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 251 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 50
- 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. Jangneung Cluster
North-west of Seoul, close to where the Imjin river flows into the Han and the demilitarised zone cuts the Korean peninsula in two, lies a royal tomb: Jangneung, the resting place of King Injo, who ruled Joseon in the seventeenth century, and his queen. Injo's reign was marked by invasions from the Manchu, and he was forced to humiliate himself before the Qing emperor in 1637, a defeat that still resonates in Korean memory. His tomb, like the other Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2009, is a grassy mound on a hillside, guarded by stone figures of officials, warriors and animals, with a T-shaped shrine below.
Read the complete Jangneung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jangneung Cluster 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 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yeongneung Cluster.
3. Yeongneung Cluster
The Yeongneung cluster lies in the countryside of Yeoju, a town on the Namhan River east of Seoul, and it is the resting place of King Sejong the Great, who reigned from 1418 to 1450 and is remembered above all for the creation of the Korean alphabet, hangul, announced in the 1440s. Koreans hold the king in deep affection, and a statue of him sits in the middle of Seoul. His tomb here is a joint one, shared with his queen, and it sits in a beautiful pine-covered setting with stone officials, horses and lanterns lined along the approach. The nearby tomb of King Hyojong, known as Nyeongneung, is part of the same area.
Read the complete Yeongneung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 126 km into the recorded legs you reach Yeongneung Cluster. Next is back through Sareung Cluster.
4. 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 Jangneung Cluster.
5. Jangneung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jangneung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Jangneung Cluster. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Jangneung Cluster to Sareung Cluster
Jangneung Cluster → Sareung Cluster is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sareung Cluster to Yeongneung Cluster
Sareung Cluster → Yeongneung Cluster is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Yeongneung Cluster to back through Sareung Cluster
Yeongneung Cluster → back through Sareung Cluster is 65 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Sareung Cluster to Jangneung Cluster
back through Sareung Cluster → Jangneung Cluster is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.