Why this ride
From Gyeongju it runs 352 km to Gyeongju; allow about 5 h 20 of riding. On the way it passes Gaya Tumuli, Songhak-dong Tumuli and back through Gaya Tumuli. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple and Songhak-dong Tumuli
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 352 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 20
- 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. Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple
Bulguksa sits on the lower slopes of Tohamsan, a forested mountain above Gyeongju, and it is the most famous Buddhist temple in Korea. It was largely built in the eighth century under the Silla kingdom, at a time when Gyeongju was its capital and one of the largest cities in Asia, and tradition credits the work to the minister Kim Dae-seong. Stone staircases and terraces from that time still carry the wooden halls, which have been rebuilt after fires and wars, most destructively during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s.
Read the complete Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple is where the day begins. Next is Gaya Tumuli.
2. Gaya Tumuli
Right in the middle of Gimhae, a busy city just west of Busan, a low ridge of grassy mounds rises between apartment blocks and roads. These are the Daeseong-dong tumuli, the burial ground of the rulers of Geumgwan Gaya, one of the small kingdoms of the Gaya confederacy that flourished in the south of the Korean peninsula from the first centuries AD until it was absorbed by Silla in the sixth century. In 2023 a group of Gaya burial sites, including these, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Read the complete Gaya Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gaya Tumuli comes up about 104 km into the recorded legs. Next is Songhak-dong Tumuli.
3. Songhak-dong Tumuli
The little port town of Goseong, on the south coast of Korea, is best known to many Koreans for dinosaur footprints, but the green mounds on a ridge above the sea tell an older story. The Songhak-dong tumuli are burial mounds of the Gaya confederacy, a group of small city-states that flourished in the south of the Korean peninsula alongside the better-known kingdoms of Baekje, Goguryeo and Silla, and that were gradually absorbed by Silla in the sixth century. Goseong was the centre of one of these states, usually called Sogaya, and the big round mounds here, laid out in a line above the bay, were the graves of its rulers.
Read the complete Songhak-dong Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 177 km into the recorded legs you reach Songhak-dong Tumuli. Next is back through Gaya Tumuli.
4. back through Gaya Tumuli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gaya Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Gaya Tumuli, late in the day. Next is Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple.
5. Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple to Gaya Tumuli
Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple → Gaya Tumuli is 104 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Gaya Tumuli to Songhak-dong Tumuli
Gaya Tumuli → Songhak-dong Tumuli is 73 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Songhak-dong Tumuli to back through Gaya Tumuli
Songhak-dong Tumuli → back through Gaya Tumuli is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Gaya Tumuli to Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple
back through Gaya Tumuli → Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple is 103 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.