Why this ride
290 km from Suwon to Suwon, about 5 h 10 of riding. On the way it passes Heolleung Cluster, Seooreung Cluster, Sareung Cluster and Seosamreung Cluster. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Yungneung Cluster and Seosamreung Cluster
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 290 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 10
- 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. Yungneung Cluster
Yungneung belongs to a tradition that most visitors to Korea never see: the royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty, forty of them scattered across the country and listed by UNESCO in 2009. This cluster lies south of Seoul near Hwaseong, a short way from Suwon, and it holds the tomb of Crown Prince Sado and, nearby, that of his son, King Jeongjo. Sado is the tragic figure of the dynasty. In 1762 his father, King Yeongjo, had him sealed inside a rice chest, where he died after eight days, after years of tension at court.
Read the complete Yungneung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yungneung Cluster is where the day begins. Next is Heolleung Cluster.
2. Heolleung Cluster
In the south of Seoul, wedged between highways, apartment towers and the Daemosan hills, a forest of oak and pine hides two royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty. Heolleung is the tomb of King Taejong, the third king of Joseon, who ruled in the early fifteenth century, and his queen Wongyeong, and nearby lies Inneung, the tomb of King Sunjo and his queen from the nineteenth century. Together they form one of the clusters of the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, listed by UNESCO in 2009.
Read the complete Heolleung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Heolleung Cluster comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Seooreung Cluster.
3. Seooreung Cluster
Joseon kings chose their final resting places with the same care they gave to their palaces, and the Seooreung cluster in Goyang, just north-west of Seoul, shows how. The name means the five tombs of the west, and the forested grounds contain the burial mounds of several Joseon kings and queens from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Each tomb follows the principles of pungsu, the Korean form of geomancy: a mountain behind for protection, open land in front, ideally with water flowing past. The mound sits on a terrace, surrounded by stone figures of officials, warriors and animals standing guard, and below is a T-shaped shrine where rites were held. The forty Joseon royal tombs were added to the World Heritage list together in 2009.
Read the complete Seooreung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Seooreung Cluster. Next is Sareung Cluster.
4. Sareung Cluster
A queen who outlived her husband by more than sixty years lies here. Sareung is the tomb of Queen Jeongsun, wife of King Danjong, the boy king of the Joseon dynasty who was deposed by his uncle in 1455 and later killed in exile. Jeongsun lived on in poverty outside the capital, and the story of her loyalty and grief became one of the most moving in Korean history. Her tomb, a grassy mound guarded by stone figures and approached along a path through pine forest, is one of the forty Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty listed together as a World Heritage Site in 2009.
Read the complete Sareung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sareung Cluster, about halfway. Next is Seosamreung Cluster.
5. 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 sits at 152 km, about halfway. Next is back through Sareung Cluster.
6. back through Sareung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sareung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sareung Cluster comes up about 186 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Seooreung Cluster.
7. back through Seooreung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Seooreung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 221 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Seooreung Cluster. Next is back through Heolleung Cluster.
8. back through Heolleung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Heolleung Cluster write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Heolleung Cluster, late in the day. Next is Yungneung Cluster.
9. Yungneung Cluster
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yungneung 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 290 km.
Leg by leg
Yungneung Cluster to Heolleung Cluster
Yungneung Cluster → Heolleung Cluster is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Heolleung Cluster to Seooreung Cluster
Heolleung Cluster → Seooreung Cluster is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seooreung Cluster to Sareung Cluster
Seooreung Cluster → Sareung Cluster is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sareung Cluster to Seosamreung Cluster
Sareung Cluster → Seosamreung Cluster is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seosamreung Cluster to back through Sareung Cluster
Seosamreung Cluster → back through Sareung Cluster is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sareung Cluster to back through Seooreung Cluster
back through Sareung Cluster → back through Seooreung Cluster is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Seooreung Cluster to back through Heolleung Cluster
back through Seooreung Cluster → back through Heolleung Cluster is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Heolleung Cluster to Yungneung Cluster
back through Heolleung Cluster → Yungneung Cluster is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Yangpyeong Mountain Roads · 354 km
- Heolleung Cluster and Donggureung Cluster · 69 km
- Hwaseong Fortress and Jongmyo Shrine · 161 km