Why this ride
478 km from Baekjeon to Baekjeon, about 9 h 13 of riding. The stops in between: Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, Dodong-seowon, Okjeon Tumuli and back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli and Okjeon Tumuli
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 478 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 13
- 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. 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 Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.
2. 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
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon comes up about 81 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dodong-seowon.
3. Dodong-seowon
The ginkgo tree in front of Dodong-seowon is over four hundred years old, a massive trunk with branches spreading wide, and in early November it turns a brilliant yellow and sheds its leaves into a golden carpet that photographers come from all over Korea to see. Behind it, the academy itself climbs a gentle slope in a series of courtyards and wooden halls, with a view over the Nakdong river. Dodong-seowon was founded in the sixteenth century to honour Kim Goeng-pil, a Neo-Confucian scholar executed in a political purge, and it is one of the nine Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2019.
Read the complete Dodong-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 137 km into the recorded legs you reach Dodong-seowon.
4. Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, about halfway. Next is Okjeon Tumuli.
5. Okjeon Tumuli
On a ridge above the Hwang river in Hapcheon County, a row of grassy mounds rises against the sky, each one the burial of a ruler or noble of Dara, one of the small kingdoms of the Gaya confederacy that flourished in the south of the Korean peninsula between the first and sixth centuries. Gaya was famous for its iron, traded across the region and to Japan, and its tombs held armour, weapons, horse gear, pottery and gold ornaments. The Okjeon tumuli are one of seven groups listed together by UNESCO in 2023 as the Gaya Tumuli.
Read the complete Okjeon Tumuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Okjeon Tumuli sits at 186 km, about halfway. Next is back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.
6. back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon comes up about 279 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Dodong-seowon.
7. back through Dodong-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dodong-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 335 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Dodong-seowon. Next is back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon.
8. back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, late in the day. Next is Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli.
9. 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
The route ends here after 478 km.
Leg by leg
Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli to Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli → Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon to Dodong-seowon
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon → Dodong-seowon is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dodong-seowon to Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Dodong-seowon → Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon to Okjeon Tumuli
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon → Okjeon Tumuli is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Okjeon Tumuli to back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
Okjeon Tumuli → back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon to back through Dodong-seowon
back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon → back through Dodong-seowon is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dodong-seowon to back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon
back through Dodong-seowon → back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon to Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli
back through Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon → Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli is 81 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.