CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
604 km from Namyangju to Hwado, about 10 h 41 of riding. It goes by way of Gapyeong lake road, Cheongpyeong, near Hwado and Scenic stretch near Gwangju. near Osan is the high point. It crosses from South Korea into North Korea - carry ID and check the toll rules. The coast is the point of it.
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 56 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Namyangju lies where the Han river's two great branches come together, the North Han running down from the mountains of Gangwon and the South Han from the east, and the point where they meet, a few kilometres east of the city at Dumulmeori on the Yangpyeong bank, is one of the loveliest spots near Seoul. The name means two waters, and the broad, calm river, framed by hills, is a favourite subject for photographers at dawn, when mist rises from the surface. Paldang, where the river is dammed, has become the favourite gathering place for riders and cyclists from the capital.
Read the complete Namyangju river gate write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Namyangju river is where the day begins. Next is Gapyeong lake road.
Gapyeong is a river town in the mountains east of Seoul, where the Bukhan river is dammed to form Cheongpyeong lake, and the roads along the shore are among the best loved in the region. The town, at the gate of the high country, has about fifty-five thousand people, and its streets are full of cafes, pensions and shops catering to weekenders from the capital. The air is cooler than in the city, and the hills around the lake are covered in pine and oak.
Read the complete Gapyeong lake road write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Gapyeong lake road comes up about 54 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cheongpyeong food.
Cheongpyeong lake is a long, narrow reservoir created in the early 1940s when a dam was built across the Bukhan river, and its waters now fill several arms of the valley, with the road following the shore. The dam was built to produce electricity for the growing city of Seoul, and it remains a source of power and drinking water. The shoreline, with its steep wooded slopes and small coves, is far more attractive than the story of its origin would suggest.
Read the complete Cheongpyeong food write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
A break here. Next is Back to Namyangju.
Namyangju lies east of Seoul, where two rivers, the Bukhan and the South Han, join to form the Han, and the meeting place is one of the most pleasant landscapes in the capital region. A quiet bend of water, reeds, boats and low hills with Mount Cheonma standing behind, it has been a place for poets and philosophers for centuries. The town, with ninety thousand people, is a base for riders heading up the Bukhan valley, and its lanes are lined with cafes with river views that are popular on weekends.
Read the complete Namyangju write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back to Namyangju closes the day. Next is Ganghwa Island Coastal Ride.
Hwado is a town in Namyangju, east of Seoul, in a landscape of forested mountains and river valleys where the Bukhan river flows down from the north towards its meeting with the Namhan river at Yangsu-ri. It is one of the gateways to the classic weekend rides out of Seoul, along the river towards Gapyeong and Chuncheon, and on Saturday and Sunday mornings you will see groups of motorcyclists gathering at cafés and service stations along the route.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Hwado write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Next is Scenic stretch near Gwangju.
Gwangju in Gyeonggi province is not to be confused with the much larger city of Gwangju in the south-west. This Gwangju lies south-east of Seoul, in a landscape of wooded hills and valleys, and it is home to one of Korea's most important historic sites: Namhansanseong, a mountain fortress on the ridges above the city, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Gwangju write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Scenic stretch near Gwangju comes up about 186 km into the recorded legs. Next is High point near Osan.
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Photo stop near Hwaseong-si.
Photo stop near Hwaseong-si, late in the day. Next is Food stop near Kaesŏng.
Kaesŏng is a name that carries weight in Korea. For nearly five centuries it was the capital of the Goryeo kingdom, the dynasty that gave Korea its name in Western languages, and it was famous for its merchants, its ginseng and its cuisine. Today it lies in North Korea, just across the Demilitarised Zone, and for riders in the South it is a city seen only from a distance, across the water and the wire, from the northern shores of Ganghwa Island and the Gimpo peninsula.
Read the complete Food stop near Kaesŏng write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Food at 494 km, roughly 9 hours into the riding. Next is Ganghwa Island Coastal Ride checkpoint 8.
Under a hill in Gwangmyeong, a disused gold mine has been turned into one of the stranger tourist attractions near Seoul. The Gwangmyeong Cave, worked for metal for much of the twentieth century and later used to store salted shrimp, now has light shows, an underground aquarium and a wine cellar stocked with Korean wines, all in tunnels kept at a cool, constant temperature even in the heat of August.
Read the complete Near Kwangmyŏng write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Ganghwa Island Coastal Ride checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Back to Ganghwa.
Namyangju, to the south-east, is a large satellite city of Seoul, with a mix of apartments, farmland and woods. The town has a quiet, semi-rural feel, with vegetable fields and small restaurants strung along the roads.
Read the complete Ganghwa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Finish at Back to Ganghwa. That is the ride.
Namyangju river gate → Gapyeong lake road is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gapyeong lake road → Cheongpyeong food is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cheongpyeong food → Back to Namyangju is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Back to Namyangju → Fuel stop near Hwado is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuel stop near Hwado → Scenic stretch near Gwangju is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch near Gwangju → High point near Osan is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Osan → Photo stop near Hwaseong-si is 104 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Photo stop near Hwaseong-si → Food stop near Kaesŏng is 126 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop near Kaesŏng → Near Kwangmyŏng is 106 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.