Why this ride
From Goyang-si it runs 181 km to Goyang-si; allow about 4 h 07 of riding. The stops in between: Jeongneung Cluster, Olleung Cluster, Uireung Cluster and Hongyureung Cluster.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Seosamreung Cluster and Hongyureung Cluster
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 181 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 07
- 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. 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 Jeongneung Cluster.
2. Jeongneung Cluster
Jeongneung is a royal tomb in the middle of Seoul, in the wooded hills of Seongbuk district just north of the old city, and it carries one of the more spiteful stories of the early Joseon court. It belongs to Queen Sindeok, the second wife of the dynasty's founder, King Taejo. Her son was named crown prince ahead of Taejo's older sons by his first wife, and one of those older sons, Yi Bang-won, struck back violently, killing his half-brothers and eventually taking the throne as King Taejong.
Read the complete Jeongneung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jeongneung Cluster comes up 20 km in. 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
39 km in you reach Olleung Cluster. Next is Uireung Cluster.
4. Uireung Cluster
Seoul is a city of ten million people, and it still has forested royal burial grounds on its edge. The Joseon dynasty, which ruled Korea from 1392 to 1910, buried its kings and queens in forty tombs scattered around the capital, each placed according to the rules of geomancy, with a hill behind, water in front, and a quiet clearing for ancestral rites. Nearly all of them survive, and in 2009 they were inscribed together as a World Heritage site. The cluster on this stretch of the map, east of the city towards Guri, belongs to that family of graves.
Read the complete Uireung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Uireung Cluster, about halfway. Next is Hongyureung Cluster.
5. Hongyureung Cluster
The Joseon dynasty lasted from 1392 until 1910, and its kings and queens were laid to rest in a scattering of forested tombs around Seoul, forty of which are on the World Heritage list. Hongyureung is the name for two of them close to Namyangju, Hongneung and Yureung, which belong to the last two rulers of Korea. Hongneung is the resting place of Gojong, who proclaimed the Korean Empire in 1897 and died in 1919, in mysterious circumstances, just before the great independence uprising of that year. Yureung holds his son Sunjong, the last emperor, who lost his throne when Japan annexed Korea.
Read the complete Hongyureung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hongyureung Cluster sits at 78 km, about halfway. Next is back through Uireung Cluster.
6. back through Uireung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Uireung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Uireung Cluster comes up 98 km in. Next is back through Olleung Cluster.
7. 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
117 km in you reach back through Olleung Cluster. Next is back through Jeongneung Cluster.
8. back through Jeongneung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jeongneung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Jeongneung Cluster, late in the day. Next is Seosamreung Cluster.
9. 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
The route ends here after 181 km.
Leg by leg
Seosamreung Cluster to Jeongneung Cluster
Seosamreung Cluster → Jeongneung Cluster is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jeongneung Cluster to Olleung Cluster
Jeongneung Cluster → Olleung Cluster is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Olleung Cluster to Uireung Cluster
Olleung Cluster → Uireung Cluster is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Uireung Cluster to Hongyureung Cluster
Uireung Cluster → Hongyureung Cluster is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hongyureung Cluster to back through Uireung Cluster
Hongyureung Cluster → back through Uireung Cluster is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Uireung Cluster to back through Olleung Cluster
back through Uireung Cluster → back through Olleung Cluster is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Olleung Cluster to back through Jeongneung Cluster
back through Olleung Cluster → back through Jeongneung Cluster is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jeongneung Cluster to Seosamreung Cluster
back through Jeongneung Cluster → Seosamreung Cluster is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.