Why this ride
The stops in between: North Part of the Yellow River Estuary, Dawenliu, South Part of the Yellow River Estuary and back through Dawenliu.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Old Course of Yellow River Estuary and South Part of the Yellow River Estuary
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 219 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 10
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Old Course of Yellow River Estuary
The Yellow River is the most restless big river on earth, and this is one of the places it used to leave the land. Over the centuries it has carried so much silt out of the loess plateau that it keeps building its own floor, rising above the plain, bursting its banks and changing course. In 1855 it broke out in Henan, gave up its long southern route to the Yellow Sea and swung north to the Bohai Gulf instead. The channel that ended here, on the low coast of Shandong, is one of the old mouths of that restless history, and the land around it is still being made by mud.
Read the complete Old Course of Yellow River Estuary write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Old Course of Yellow River Estuary is where the day begins. Next is North Part of the Yellow River Estuary.
2. North Part of the Yellow River Estuary
The Yellow River has never stayed in one place. In 1855 it burst its banks in Henan and abandoned the course it had followed for centuries to reach the sea south of the Shandong peninsula, and instead found a new route north-east into the Bohai Gulf. The mouth of that new course is here, in the northern part of the Yellow River Delta, and it is a place of geological theatre: a young landscape of mudflats and reed beds, growing seaward by some metres a year in good times, a map being redrawn as you watch.
Read the complete North Part of the Yellow River Estuary write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
North Part of the Yellow River Estuary comes up 36 km in. Next is Dawenliu.
3. Dawenliu
Where the Yellow River meets the sea, the land is made of mud. The river carries an immense burden of silt, scoured from the loess plateau thousands of kilometres upstream, and at its mouth on the Bohai Gulf it drops it, building new land year by year. The Dawenliu area, in the Yellow River Delta, lies in the southern part of the national nature reserve and is one of the best places to see how fresh the ground is: reed beds, tamarisk, salt marsh and shallow channels, all flat and glittering under a huge sky.
Read the complete Dawenliu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
72 km in you reach Dawenliu. Next is South Part of the Yellow River Estuary.
4. South Part of the Yellow River Estuary
Few rivers move so much earth as the Yellow, and here, at its mouth in Shandong, you can watch the land being made. The Huang He carries more silt than any other major river, a load picked up from the loess plateau, and where it slows at the sea, it drops it, building a delta that grows by many square kilometres in some years. The river has often changed course here. It has flooded, shifted and found new channels, and its mouth has moved hundreds of kilometres over the centuries, which is why the Chinese call it China's Sorrow.
Read the complete South Part of the Yellow River Estuary write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
South Part of the Yellow River Estuary, about halfway. Next is back through Dawenliu.
5. back through Dawenliu
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dawenliu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dawenliu sits at 145 km, about halfway. Next is back through North Part of the Yellow River Estuary.
6. back through North Part of the Yellow River Estuary
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete North Part of the Yellow River Estuary write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through North Part of the Yellow River Estuary comes up 181 km in. Next is Old Course of Yellow River Estuary.
7. Old Course of Yellow River Estuary
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Old Course of Yellow River Estuary write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Old Course of Yellow River Estuary closes the day.
Leg by leg
Old Course of Yellow River Estuary to North Part of the Yellow River Estuary
Old Course of Yellow River Estuary → North Part of the Yellow River Estuary is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
North Part of the Yellow River Estuary to Dawenliu
North Part of the Yellow River Estuary → Dawenliu is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dawenliu to South Part of the Yellow River Estuary
Dawenliu → South Part of the Yellow River Estuary is 11 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
South Part of the Yellow River Estuary to back through Dawenliu
South Part of the Yellow River Estuary → back through Dawenliu is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dawenliu to back through North Part of the Yellow River Estuary
back through Dawenliu → back through North Part of the Yellow River Estuary is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through North Part of the Yellow River Estuary to Old Course of Yellow River Estuary
back through North Part of the Yellow River Estuary → Old Course of Yellow River Estuary is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.