Why this ride
From Gunsan it runs 305 km to Gunsan; allow about 5 h 34 of riding. The stops in between: Donam-seown, Sansa and back through Donam-seown. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Seocheon Getbol and Sansa
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 305 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 34
- 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. 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 Donam-seown.
2. 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
Donam-seown comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sansa.
3. 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
about 151 km into the recorded legs you reach Sansa. Next is back through Donam-seown.
4. 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
back through Donam-seown, late in the day. Next is Seocheon Getbol.
5. 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 at Seocheon Getbol. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Seocheon Getbol to Donam-seown
Seocheon Getbol → Donam-seown is 62 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Donam-seown to Sansa
Donam-seown → Sansa is 89 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sansa to back through Donam-seown
Sansa → back through Donam-seown is 91 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Donam-seown to Seocheon Getbol
back through Donam-seown → Seocheon Getbol is 63 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.