Why this ride
A 238 km round trip from Chilbo - roughly 3 h 44 in the saddle. It goes by way of Mireuksa Temple Site, Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri and back through Mireuksa Temple Site. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Museong-seowon and Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 238 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 44
- 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. Museong-seowon
Just outside Jeongeup, in a village of low houses and persimmon trees, stands Museong-seowon, a Confucian academy that has served its community for centuries. It honours Choe Chi-won, the great ninth-century scholar of the Silla kingdom who served as magistrate in this area and whose poems and essays made him one of Korea's most celebrated writers. Seowon were private academies where young men studied the Confucian classics and the memory of revered scholars was honoured with rites, and Museong is one of nine inscribed together by UNESCO in 2019.
Read the complete Museong-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Museong-seowon is where the day begins. Next is Mireuksa Temple Site.
2. Mireuksa Temple Site
On a wide plain near Iksan, in the south-west of Korea, a large stone pagoda stands beneath a mountain, slightly incomplete and all the more striking for it. This is the west pagoda of Mireuksa, once the largest Buddhist temple of the Baekje kingdom, founded in the early seventh century by King Mu. The pagoda is the oldest and largest surviving stone pagoda in Korea, and after decades of collapse and a cement repair in the early twentieth century, it was carefully dismantled and restored in a project that took around twenty years, finishing in 2019. The temple site is part of the Baekje Historic Areas, listed by UNESCO in 2015.
Read the complete Mireuksa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mireuksa Temple Site comes up about 59 km into the recorded legs. Next is Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri.
3. Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
In 1971, workers digging drainage near a group of ancient burial mounds above the Geum river at Gongju broke into a brick tomb that had never been looted. Inside lay the remains and treasures of King Muryeong of Baekje, who died in 523, and his queen: gold crowns, ornaments, a stone tablet naming the king, and thousands of objects. It was one of the greatest archaeological finds in Korean history, and it is the centrepiece of the Royal Tombs at Songsan-ri, part of the Baekje Historic Areas World Heritage Site listed in 2015.
Read the complete Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 120 km into the recorded legs you reach Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri. Next is back through Mireuksa Temple Site.
4. back through Mireuksa Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mireuksa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mireuksa Temple Site, late in the day. Next is Museong-seowon.
5. Museong-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Museong-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Museong-seowon. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Museong-seowon to Mireuksa Temple Site
Museong-seowon → Mireuksa Temple Site is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mireuksa Temple Site to Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
Mireuksa Temple Site → Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri is 61 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri to back through Mireuksa Temple Site
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri → back through Mireuksa Temple Site is 61 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Mireuksa Temple Site to Museong-seowon
back through Mireuksa Temple Site → Museong-seowon is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.