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Cycling up (South) on Hwy 35 from Gangneung to Imgye (Taebaek) after  a storm

Luke Cape September 15 at 10:42am
Hi Brian,

I saw your message sent from the Cycling in Korea group and see you are cycling from Gangneung up through Imgye to Taebaek and on to Andong. That'll be a nice ride! A lot of climbing, but route 35 from gangneung to taebaek is a beautiful valley. i've biked in the opposite direction a couple of times (Taebaek - Gangneung) and it's really nice. 2 places to visit along the way if you have time:

Yesuwon ('jesus abbey'). Doesn't matter if you're religious or not - they're nice people. it's an amazing architectural genius in a tiny valley in the mountains. Sort of like Rivendell, but in Korea .. and you can have lunch there.

I'd also recommend Geomryeongso, the 'source of the han river', on the road from Imgye to Taebaek. It's a nice 7km detour from the main road, up a lovely valley with an excellent raw fish restaurant if you can find it.

Anyway...

the reason i'm messaging you is because i'm looking for advice on a trip. Me and a couple of friends want to bike up along the very north of gangwon-do on tuesday/wednesday/thursday next week. I have a friend who lives in Wasu-ri (Cheorwon county), but it's a little far from the coast and we'd probably like some beach-ee time, so i was wondering if you've biked in the area and could recommend any places to go. Can you bike inside Seoraksan NP? Are there any nice back roads in the area that we could camp/min-bak along the way? We'd be looking for easy enough rides, because the 3 girls will only have mountain bikes, while the 3 guys have road bikes.

Cheers man!

Luke


(Yesuwon - http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=37.304884%2C128.998203&spn=0.013859%2C0.033088&z=15&lci=com.panoramio.all)

(Geomryeongso - http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=37.233267%2C128.945332&spn=0.027745%2C0.066175&z=14&lci=com.panoramio.all)

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Brian 브라이안 Perich September 15 at 8:19pm

Hey Luke,
Awesome message, I must THANK YOU for sending & contacting me!

Yes, definitely dig the Hwy 35 route, I attacked from Gangneung up to Imgye at the end of the summer, looking for the alternative route to Hwy 456, the epic 20km Daegwalyeong route to Pyeongchang-gun (830 meter climb in 20km!), yet, still far off from the actual Pyeongchang-si, but the wind turbines are on top, it's a great place to be (restaurant at the end of the tourist stalls is awesome too, take some corn in there (summer) and order a pitcher of beer with friends, before bombing back into Gangneung, or better, cycling WEST to Jinbu. I camped under the Hwy 50 interprovince connecting Wonju-Seoul, a little noisy (ear plugs helped) but the river bank was cool, had a small fire, next day cycled Hwy 59 along the inner passage (valleys, a river and mostly descents running parallel to Hey 35, except at a higher altitude) you'll reach the junction between choosing East (Imgye, Donghae) or West to Jeonseong (Railbiking yeah!) and Taebaek.

Riding north, amazing place is in Yang Yang, it's the Naksansa Buddhist Temple, amazing place - spiritual and the geography is pleasing too. After a tour around (free) look down from the peak with the giant stone buddihist (female) statue, there is an amazing beach just North of you, Naksan Beach! Definitely the place to dip!

Further north, you'll ride through Sokcho, 70km or 3 hours directly riding from Gangneung. Further small towns and the Unification Observatory in Goeseong, near the end of the cycling line. You might need to lock up the bikes to see this location, might be fun too.

http://www.tongiltour.co.kr/english/about/about_06.html

Seoraksan National Park is an excellent cycling destination (the entrance to the park) but you can't cycle through it. The backcountry is filled with rice field plantations, camping would need to be relocated, with high-military maneuvers in the area, perhaps camping in the farming area is a good idea, coastal area is patrolled, no recommended after 12am. However, I have heard of friends camping out in Donghae, Gangwon for the New Years Day celebrations, so there are always exceptions (incl. just stealth camping in the reeds/bush, not being seen, no open fires)*.

There are inner passages up to the DMZ, I recommend taking them, the Hwy 7 route North is fine, some GREEN BIKE PATHS to Sokcho, but South you'll experience the blow-back from the traffic, not a great experience for me, although I motored back (single day trip), 148km, including a little delirious lost in Gangneung for +8km, I thought about hitting 200km for the day though, wish I had rode all the way to Donghae, maybe next time! (:

Thanks for the ride information exchange, you know some amazing routes as well, give me a shout when you're passing through town (Gangneung), we can cycle with your crew, my wife, the kids and trailers can follow you out of town on the northbound way.

Peace & thanks for contact, keep it moving!!!!

Brian P 010.3037.5126
http://korean-world.blogspot.com/