Why this ride
A 389 km round trip from Gunsan - roughly 6 h 46 in the saddle. It goes by way of Jeongnimsa Temple Site, Donam-seown, Baekje Historic Areas and Sansa. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Seocheon Getbol and Sansa starting at Gunsan
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 389 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 46
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Jeongnimsa Temple Site.
2. Jeongnimsa Temple Site
Buyeo was the last capital of Baekje, one of the three ancient kingdoms of Korea, and it feels like the sort of town that remembers it. Baekje moved its court here in 538 and held it until it fell to an alliance of Silla and Tang China in 660, and the little river town on the Geum river has been quietly proud of that heritage ever since. The temple site of Jeongnimsa is at the heart of it, and what is left is a grassy rectangle with the foundations of the halls, a stone pagoda and a Buddha figure under a roof.
Read the complete Jeongnimsa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jeongnimsa Temple Site comes up 52 km in. Next is Donam-seown.
3. Donam-seown
Donam Seowon is a Confucian academy in the countryside near Nonsan, in South Chungcheong province, and it is one of nine seowon that UNESCO listed together in 2019. Seowon were private academies founded by scholars of the Joseon dynasty, where young men studied the Confucian classics and honoured the memory of great teachers through rituals. Donam was founded in the early seventeenth century to commemorate Kim Jang-saeng, a renowned scholar of rites, and his students, and it played an important role in the intellectual life of the period.
Read the complete Donam-seown write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
105 km in you reach Donam-seown. Next is Baekje Historic Areas.
4. Baekje Historic Areas
Gongju is where the kingdom of Baekje retreated when it was almost destroyed. In 475 the armies of Goguryeo, the northern rival, swept south and took the capital at Hanseong, near modern Seoul, killing the king, and the survivors moved the court to Ungjin, as Gongju was then called, a defensible site on the Geum river with a fortress on the hill above. For about sixty years it served as the capital, until the court moved further south to Sabi, now Buyeo, in 538. The UNESCO listing of Baekje Historic Areas, in 2015, covers Gongju, Buyeo and Iksan.
Read the complete Baekje Historic Areas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Baekje Historic Areas, about halfway. Next is Sansa.
5. Sansa
Songnisan is a mountain with a long reputation, and the temple Beopjusa sits on its lower flank, in the middle of the country in North Chungcheong province, among pines, rock outcrops and clear streams. Tradition says the monk Uisin founded it in the middle of the sixth century, after returning from India with scriptures carried on a mule, and the name means Temple of the Dharma Abode. It was destroyed in the Japanese invasions of the sixteenth century and rebuilt, and its great wooden hall, Palsangjeon, is the only five-storey wooden pagoda still standing in Korea, a tall tiered structure that rises over the courtyard.
Read the complete Sansa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sansa sits at 209 km, about halfway. Next is back through Baekje Historic Areas.
6. back through Baekje Historic Areas
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Baekje Historic Areas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Baekje Historic Areas comes up 261 km in. Next is back through Donam-seown.
7. back through Donam-seown
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Donam-seown write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
314 km in you reach back through Donam-seown. Next is back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site.
8. back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jeongnimsa 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 Jeongnimsa Temple Site, late in the day. Next is Seocheon Getbol.
9. 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
The route ends here after 389 km.
Leg by leg
Seocheon Getbol to Jeongnimsa Temple Site
Seocheon Getbol → Jeongnimsa Temple Site is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jeongnimsa Temple Site to Donam-seown
Jeongnimsa Temple Site → Donam-seown is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Donam-seown to Baekje Historic Areas
Donam-seown → Baekje Historic Areas is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Baekje Historic Areas to Sansa
Baekje Historic Areas → Sansa is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sansa to back through Baekje Historic Areas
Sansa → back through Baekje Historic Areas is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Baekje Historic Areas to back through Donam-seown
back through Baekje Historic Areas → back through Donam-seown is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Donam-seown to back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site
back through Donam-seown → back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site to Seocheon Getbol
back through Jeongnimsa Temple Site → Seocheon Getbol is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.