Why this ride
From Byeonggok it runs 306 km to Byeonggok; allow about 5 h 46 of riding. The stops in between: Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli, Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, Jisan-dong Tumuli and Okjeon Tumuli. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Namgye-seowon and Okjeon Tumuli
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 306 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 46
- 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. Namgye-seowon
Hamyang is a quiet county in the mountains of South Gyeongsang, on the eastern edge of Jirisan, the great massif in the south of the Korean peninsula, and Namgye-seowon stands on a gentle slope a few kilometres from the county town. Founded in 1552 to honour the Neo-Confucian scholar Jeong Yeo-chang, it was one of the earliest private academies in Korea and served as a model for many others. Its layout set a pattern: the lecture hall at the front, dormitories on either side, and the shrine for the rites at the top of the slope, so that the buildings climb the hill in a hierarchy of importance. Unusually, the dormitories have small raised pavilions overlooking ponds, where students could rest and contemplate the landscape. Namgye is part of the UNESCO listing of the Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies.
Read the complete Namgye-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Namgye-seowon is where the day begins. Next is Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli.
2. Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli
The people of the Gaya confederacy never built an empire, which is why they are overshadowed by the neighbouring kingdoms of Baekje and Silla. But in the fifth and sixth centuries they ran a loose group of small states in the south of the Korean peninsula, famous for iron, and the tumuli in Jangsu, on the high ground of Jeolla province, are evidence that this mountain county had its own ruler. The round grassy mounds of Yugok-ri and Durak-ri sit on ridges and in fields, and iron tools, horse gear and weapons have been dug out of them. They are part of the UNESCO listing for the Gaya Tumuli, added in 2023.
Read the complete Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.
3. Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
High in the forested folds of Gayasan, in South Gyeongsang province, a temple keeps one of the great treasures of the Buddhist world. Haeinsa holds the Tripitaka Koreana, more than eighty thousand wooden printing blocks carved in the thirteenth century with the complete Buddhist scriptures, an act of devotion undertaken while the Mongols were invading Korea, in the hope that the Buddha's protection would save the country. The blocks are kept in the Janggyeong Panjeon, a pair of long, plain wooden halls built in the fifteenth century, and the halls are the real marvel. Their design uses natural ventilation, windows of different sizes on opposite walls, and a floor packed with charcoal, lime, clay and salt to regulate humidity and temperature, and they have protected the blocks for centuries without modern technology. The halls were listed by UNESCO in 1995.
Read the complete Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 104 km into the recorded legs you reach Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon. Next is Jisan-dong Tumuli.
4. Jisan-dong Tumuli
Above the small county town of Goryeong, in south-eastern Korea, a line of grassy burial mounds runs along the ridge of Jusan mountain like the knuckles of a giant hand. These are the Jisan-dong tumuli, tombs of the rulers and elite of Daegaya, the most powerful member of the Gaya confederacy, a group of small kingdoms that flourished in the south of the peninsula until they were absorbed by Silla in the sixth century. The largest mounds are huge, and excavations found not only rich grave goods, iron weapons, armour, gold crowns and pottery, but also evidence that attendants were buried with their lords. Together with other Gaya tomb groups, the site was added to the World Heritage list in 2023.
Read the complete Jisan-dong Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jisan-dong Tumuli, about halfway. Next is Okjeon Tumuli.
5. Okjeon Tumuli
On a ridge above the Hwang river in Hapcheon County, a row of grassy mounds rises against the sky, each one the burial of a ruler or noble of Dara, one of the small kingdoms of the Gaya confederacy that flourished in the south of the Korean peninsula between the first and sixth centuries. Gaya was famous for its iron, traded across the region and to Japan, and its tombs held armour, weapons, horse gear, pottery and gold ornaments. The Okjeon tumuli are one of seven groups listed together by UNESCO in 2023 as the Gaya Tumuli.
Read the complete Okjeon Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Okjeon Tumuli sits at 138 km, about halfway. Next is back through Jisan-dong Tumuli.
6. back through Jisan-dong Tumuli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jisan-dong Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Jisan-dong Tumuli comes up about 172 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.
7. back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 201 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon. Next is back through Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli.
8. back through Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli, late in the day. Next is Namgye-seowon.
9. Namgye-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Namgye-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 306 km.
Leg by leg
Namgye-seowon to Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli
Namgye-seowon → Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli to Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli → Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon to Jisan-dong Tumuli
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon → Jisan-dong Tumuli is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jisan-dong Tumuli to Okjeon Tumuli
Jisan-dong Tumuli → Okjeon Tumuli is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Okjeon Tumuli to back through Jisan-dong Tumuli
Okjeon Tumuli → back through Jisan-dong Tumuli is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jisan-dong Tumuli to back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
back through Jisan-dong Tumuli → back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon to back through Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli
back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon → back through Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli to Namgye-seowon
back through Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli → Namgye-seowon is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.