Why this ride
A 173 km round trip from Baekjeon - roughly 3 h 21 in the saddle. The stops in between: Namgye-seowon, Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon and back through Namgye-seowon.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli and Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 173 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 21
- 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. Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli
The people of the Gaya confederacy never built an empire, which is why they are overshadowed by the neighbouring kingdoms of Baekje and Silla. But in the fifth and sixth centuries they ran a loose group of small states in the south of the Korean peninsula, famous for iron, and the tumuli in Jangsu, on the high ground of Jeolla province, are evidence that this mountain county had its own ruler. The round grassy mounds of Yugok-ri and Durak-ri sit on ridges and in fields, and iron tools, horse gear and weapons have been dug out of them. They are part of the UNESCO listing for the Gaya Tumuli, added in 2023.
Read the complete Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli is where the day begins. Next is Namgye-seowon.
2. Namgye-seowon
Hamyang is a quiet county in the mountains of South Gyeongsang, on the eastern edge of Jirisan, the great massif in the south of the Korean peninsula, and Namgye-seowon stands on a gentle slope a few kilometres from the county town. Founded in 1552 to honour the Neo-Confucian scholar Jeong Yeo-chang, it was one of the earliest private academies in Korea and served as a model for many others. Its layout set a pattern: the lecture hall at the front, dormitories on either side, and the shrine for the rites at the top of the slope, so that the buildings climb the hill in a hierarchy of importance. Unusually, the dormitories have small raised pavilions overlooking ponds, where students could rest and contemplate the landscape. Namgye is part of the UNESCO listing of the Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies.
Read the complete Namgye-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Namgye-seowon comes up 37 km in. Next is Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.
3. Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
High in the forested folds of Gayasan, in South Gyeongsang province, a temple keeps one of the great treasures of the Buddhist world. Haeinsa holds the Tripitaka Koreana, more than eighty thousand wooden printing blocks carved in the thirteenth century with the complete Buddhist scriptures, an act of devotion undertaken while the Mongols were invading Korea, in the hope that the Buddha's protection would save the country. The blocks are kept in the Janggyeong Panjeon, a pair of long, plain wooden halls built in the fifteenth century, and the halls are the real marvel. Their design uses natural ventilation, windows of different sizes on opposite walls, and a floor packed with charcoal, lime, clay and salt to regulate humidity and temperature, and they have protected the blocks for centuries without modern technology. The halls were listed by UNESCO in 1995.
Read the complete Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
75 km in you reach Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon. Next is back through Namgye-seowon.
4. back through Namgye-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Namgye-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Namgye-seowon, late in the day. Next is Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli.
5. Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli to Namgye-seowon
Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli → Namgye-seowon is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Namgye-seowon to Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Namgye-seowon → Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon to back through Namgye-seowon
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon → back through Namgye-seowon is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Namgye-seowon to Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli
back through Namgye-seowon → Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.