Why this ride
A 381 km round trip from Gongju - roughly 6 h 41 in the saddle. On the way it passes Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri, Mireuksa Temple Site, Seocheon Getbol and Getbol. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri and Getbol
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 381 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 41
- 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. 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
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri is where the day begins. Next is Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri.
2. Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri
Seven grassy mounds rise on a hillside outside Buyeo, smooth and green, looking almost like a landscape garden. They are the royal tombs of Neungsan-ri, burial places of kings of Baekje, one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea, during the period when Buyeo, then called Sabi, was its capital, from 538 to 660. The tombs were robbed long ago, but their stone chambers survive, and one has painted walls showing the guardian animals of the four directions and lotus flowers. They are part of the UNESCO listing of the Baekje historic areas, together with sites in Gongju, Buyeo and Iksan.
Read the complete Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mireuksa Temple Site.
3. 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
about 78 km into the recorded legs you reach Mireuksa Temple Site. Next is Seocheon Getbol.
4. Seocheon Getbol
The tide here goes out so far that the sea simply disappears. The Seocheon getbol, a vast sweep of tidal flats on the west coast of Korea where the Geum river meets the Yellow Sea, is one of four areas listed by UNESCO in 2021 as the Korean Tidal Flats. Twice a day the water withdraws over kilometres of glistening mud and sand, leaving channels, pools and a hum of life: crabs, worms, shellfish and mudskippers, and above all birds.
Read the complete Seocheon Getbol write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Seocheon Getbol, about halfway. Next is Getbol.
5. Getbol
On Korea's west coast the sea goes out a very long way. The Yellow Sea has big tides, and when they drop they expose huge plains of mud, the getbol, glistening and grey and full of life. The Korean tidal flats were inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2021, covering stretches from Seocheon in the north to Gochang, Shinan and Boseong-Suncheon in the south, and they are among the most important feeding grounds on Earth for migratory shorebirds travelling between Siberia and Australia. Crabs, mudskippers, worms and shellfish swarm in the mud, and people have harvested them for centuries.
Read the complete Getbol write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Getbol sits at 184 km, about halfway. Next is back through Seocheon Getbol.
6. back through Seocheon Getbol
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Seocheon Getbol write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Seocheon Getbol comes up about 254 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Mireuksa Temple Site.
7. 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
about 302 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Mireuksa Temple Site. Next is back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri.
8. back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri, late in the day. Next is Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri.
9. Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
The route ends here after 381 km.
Leg by leg
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri to Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri
Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri → Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri to Mireuksa Temple Site
Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri → Mireuksa Temple Site is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mireuksa Temple Site to Seocheon Getbol
Mireuksa Temple Site → Seocheon Getbol is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seocheon Getbol to Getbol
Seocheon Getbol → Getbol is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Getbol to back through Seocheon Getbol
Getbol → back through Seocheon Getbol is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Seocheon Getbol to back through Mireuksa Temple Site
back through Seocheon Getbol → back through Mireuksa Temple Site is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mireuksa Temple Site to back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri
back through Mireuksa Temple Site → back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri to Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri
back through Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri → Royal Tombs in Songsan-ri is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Baekje Historic Areas and Getbol · 380 km
- Magoksa Temple and Museong-seowon · 271 km