Why this ride
From Goyang-si it runs 185 km to Goyang-si; allow about 3 h 53 of riding. The stops in between: Jangneung Cluster, Olleung Cluster, Donggureung Cluster and back through Olleung Cluster.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Seosamreung Cluster and Donggureung Cluster
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 185 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 53
- 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. Seosamreung Cluster
The kings and queens of the Joseon dynasty, who ruled Korea for more than five hundred years until 1910, chose their graves with enormous care. Geomancers studied hills, water and wind to find sites with the right energy, and the royal tombs were laid out with burial mounds, stone guardians, ceremonial halls and long processional paths. Forty of these tombs are listed together by UNESCO as the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, and Seosamreung, the three western tombs in Goyang just north-west of Seoul, is one of the clusters.
Read the complete Seosamreung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Seosamreung Cluster is where the day begins. Next is Jangneung Cluster.
2. Jangneung Cluster
North-west of Seoul, close to where the Imjin river flows into the Han and the demilitarised zone cuts the Korean peninsula in two, lies a royal tomb: Jangneung, the resting place of King Injo, who ruled Joseon in the seventeenth century, and his queen. Injo's reign was marked by invasions from the Manchu, and he was forced to humiliate himself before the Qing emperor in 1637, a defeat that still resonates in Korean memory. His tomb, like the other Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2009, is a grassy mound on a hillside, guarded by stone figures of officials, warriors and animals, with a T-shaped shrine below.
Read the complete Jangneung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jangneung Cluster comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Olleung Cluster.
3. Olleung Cluster
Seoul's royal tombs are not all in the city centre, and the ones on this stretch lie in the green country just to the north-west, in a belt of forest, farmland and expanding suburbs that stretches towards the border. The cluster on our list is one of several groups of Joseon dynasty burial mounds, and the nearest sizeable town is Uijeongbu, nearly half a million people, with Goyang just beyond it.
Read the complete Olleung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 66 km into the recorded legs you reach Olleung Cluster. Next is Donggureung Cluster.
4. Donggureung Cluster
Nine kings and ten queens of the Joseon dynasty lie at Donggureung, in the city of Guri, just north-east of Seoul. The name means the Eastern Nine Tombs, and it is the largest royal burial ground of the dynasty, which ruled Korea for over five centuries from 1392 to 1910. The tombs are spread across a wooded hillside, each a grassy mound surrounded by stone figures of officials and animals, set according to the rules of geomancy with a mountain behind and water in front.
Read the complete Donggureung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Donggureung Cluster, about halfway. Next is back through Olleung Cluster.
5. back through Olleung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Olleung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Olleung Cluster sits at 108 km, about halfway. Next is back through Jangneung Cluster.
6. back through Jangneung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jangneung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Jangneung Cluster comes up about 158 km into the recorded legs. Next is Seosamreung Cluster.
7. Seosamreung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Seosamreung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Seosamreung Cluster closes the day.
Leg by leg
Seosamreung Cluster to Jangneung Cluster
Seosamreung Cluster → Jangneung Cluster is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jangneung Cluster to Olleung Cluster
Jangneung Cluster → Olleung Cluster is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Olleung Cluster to Donggureung Cluster
Olleung Cluster → Donggureung Cluster is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Donggureung Cluster to back through Olleung Cluster
Donggureung Cluster → back through Olleung Cluster is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Olleung Cluster to back through Jangneung Cluster
back through Olleung Cluster → back through Jangneung Cluster is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jangneung Cluster to Seosamreung Cluster
back through Jangneung Cluster → Seosamreung Cluster is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.