Korea has an amazing network of bike trails, including one that spans from Seoul in the northwest of the country to Busan, Korea’s second largest city, in the southeast. Someone told me about this trail system early on my arrival to Korea, and it was my goal to ride it since then. Something over two years later, I did.
The ride was described to me, or perhaps I heard it as, a single continuous bike trail. It is not. But it is a well-signed network of several long trails along with shorter trails and quiet roads. It is called the four rivers trail because it traces four major rivers. People do the ride, around 375 miles, in different numbers of days. I took some road detours to shave off 30 miles here and there, and rode it in four days.
Day 1: Incheon to Yeoju
My first detour was the longest, the most significant, and the most questionable. I did not begin at the official start of the route at the mouth of the Ara river, west of Seoul. And I did not ride the approximately 20 miles north from Incheon to meet that trail as it wound further to the east. Instead, I cut off a big curving arc by riding in a relatively straight line east from Incheon until I met the river trail as it curved back down south. In doing so I reduced the length of the ride by about 10 miles, but I had traffic light after traffic light and got lost a fair bit. At one point my route, which I had mapped but never rode, devolved into a dirt trail that passed over a little stream covered with a plank of wood for the crossing–how was that even mapped?
While I did ride on some lovely urban bike paths, there were also a lot of high-traffic roads. If I had to do it again, I would have favored a route that got me more quickly to the river trail. As Frodo says, “short cuts make long delays.” I thought I was going to get to my hotel quite late, but fortunately I was blown to my destination by a strong afternoon tailwind. I had an excellent dinner of dumplings, grilled mackerel and Korean sides.
Photos from Day 1. Click on one to start a slide show.
Day 2: Yeoju to Mungyeong
Day 2 was the start of my first proper day on the trail. It was great to put behind the traffic lights and navigational puzzles. My first view of the river was gorgeous, a promise of many beautiful river views to come. After an an hour or two of riding, the path began to wind through some deep valleys with steep mountains rising up from them.
Today had the two longest climbs of the trip, and a gradual uphill slope before them, so I planned on fewer total miles. That was a good choice. Unlike the day before, I mainly had headwinds, which slowed me down. In addition, something that frustrated me the entire trip: I got my bike tuned up before I left, but the bike mechanic failed to adjust the rear derailleur properly, and as a result, I could not shift into my lowest gear. Which I really needed for those hills! I was very tempted to try to readjust the derailleur, but was worried I would just make it worse.
My best adventure of the day was lunch. Restaurants were few and far between. I finally passed two lovely riverside places, but neither would serve one person. (Korean restaurants often assume at least two people will eat together, and design servings accordingly.) I was getting worried I’d be facing my big climbs without eating enough and I was also running out of water. I saw a place in the distance that I thought might at least have water, but did not want to drag my bike there only to be disappointed. Some cyclists were nearby having lunch under a pavilion. I asked them (in Korean!) whether that place had water. They said no, pulled a bottle of water out of a big ice chest, and gestured me to come over. Then they invited me to share their picnic lunch. It was great food—some kind of pork soup, varieties of kimchi, and other Korean sides. Even though we couldn’t say much to one another, they were so friendly. They kept urging me to eat more rice. I realized later I never took my helmet off through the whole lunch; after you wear one for awhile, you can forget you have it on. And I was tired. They must have thought me odd though.
The two major climbs were indeed tough, but doable, and then it was mostly downhill to my hotel. Also, the headwind had died down, so I made good time to my destination. I really wanted barbecue. I went to two different places, and, again, both refused to serve me because … I was alone. Hmmph. Finally, I had fried chicken. Fried chicken orders are also usually made for two, but I was really very hungry.
Photos from Day 2. Click on one to start a slide show.
Day 3: Mungyeong to Daegu
Today was the longest day of the trip —a full century (100 miles) plus one bonus mile, for 101 total. While the whole route is rivers and mountains, there are subtle variations. On this stretch of the route there are fewer forests and mountains and more fen around the river. Though less grand, there were many beautiful stretches of reeds and wildflowers.
The change of scenery also meant less shade — I’m not sure whether today was actually the hottest day of the ride as well as the least shady, or if it just felt like it because I was always riding in the sun. I drank bottle after bottle of water, and worried some about running out because this part of the route was also thin on stores. Though the heat was a challenge, the route was much more flat than yesterday, except for occasional inclines as the trail occasionally left the river bank—presumably because it was too hard to run a trail in that area—and went up the bluff on the side. The bluffs were steep and so were the climbs, though they were also relatively short. One climb up from the river was so steep I did not even bother to try to ride up it, but just walked my bike up the half mile. Many times though, the trail became a platform along the river, running right over the water. These sections were flat and cool in both senses of that word.
The route skirted Daegu, the third largest city in Korea. There was an old sci-fi movie I recall, where travelers to Mars see this great city suddenly rising up from an empty plain. That’s what Daegu reminded me of as I approached it along the river. Suddenly, there’s this bright, white city rising up out of the mountains.
Because of the longer miles and a bit of trouble finding my hotel, I got in fairly late. But I had good luck with restaurants. There were not many in the area, and at the Korea food place I wanted to go to the owner first told me she was closing. When I asked her, probably very forlornly, whether there were any open restaurants in the area, she invited me in and made me a great dinner!
Photos from Day 3. Click on one to start a slide show.
And read about the loyal cow here.
Day 4: Daegu to Busan
The cloudier weather today made welcome a change from the hot sun of the day before. It also made everything a beautiful green against the gray. This day had the most farmland. I enjoyed smelling the onions as I biked by, and seeing produce being packed into neat rows of bags. I also saw how much farm labor in Korea is still performed by hand, by older people.
At one point on the morning’s route there was a long meander on the river trail, so for that part I decided to cut something more like a straight line on roads, especially since the climbing on the roads was much milder than along the meander. Unlike my first day’s shortcut off the trail, I really enjoyed this one. Bike trails are great, but there is an excitement I’ve had being on a road ever since I can remember. On a bike trail, someone has found your way; on the road, you’re finding it. Some of the roads had some traffic, but nothing worrying. Other roads on this route were absolutely tiny, sidewalk-size lanes of concrete to enable farmers to access their rice fields.
There was some up and down today, but neither the super steep grades of the day before, nor the long climbs of the day before that. I rode pretty hard in the afternoon, since rain was forecast, and the forecast was better the closer to Busan one got. I ended up getting lightly rained on for maybe 20 minutes. That was it for four days of riding — 20 minutes of rain. I had great weather. Alas, my rush to beat heavier rain did mean I passed up some appealing food trucks along the bike path.
As I rode the last 10 or so miles into Busan, it felt strange to be among so many people again. Now I was back on urban bike paths. I had at least a couple of hours of light left when I got to my hotel, but I did not tour Busan. I was tired and hungry. For my last dinner of the ride, I really wanted fish, for which Busan is known. I had trouble finding a place that served fish for one, but I was so hungry I got the smallest of the dinners for two, and it was terrific, and not too much food. My hotel was actually some miles short of the very end of the trail at the tip of Busan. I had intended to finish that part the next day, before getting on the bus (with my bike in the luggage bin) back to Incheon. But it turned out the best bus for my trip back was leaving at 7:00 am, so I’ll need to return some other time.
Final thoughts for anyone thinking of riding this route
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- The trail is really well marked, but I still was glad to have, and occasionally needed, my GPS device and my phone loaded with my ridewithgps maps.
- There are stretches of the trail where shops are few and far between. I always rode with a lot of extra water in my panniers. I also made sure I had some snacks.
- I do not know what camping would have been like but the hotels were inexpensive and perfectly fine—clean and comfortable. Because I do not have enough Korean to make reservations on the fly, I booked my hotels in advance.
- I regretted time off the trail in the Seoul metro area, but not the time I took off the trail in the countryside. But you shouldn’t take those kind of detours if you’re not comfortable riding with some traffic.
- Four days to do the route was at the edge of my comfort. It would have been easy without loaded panniers, but it’s been awhile since I’ve done a bike tour, and I forgot how much 30 pounds of stuff can slow you down. If I had wanted more time to sight see, five days would have been better. Of course, your mileage will vary.
- Yes, as a river trail the route is mainly flat, but not completely. According to ridewithgps, I had about 12,000 feet of climbing over the approximately 350 miles. Forewarned is forearmed. Do I wish I had less weight on my bike? Yes. I always overpack. But I did probably use 75% of what I packed.
- My Korean vocabulary is maybe 200 words, 50 of which I can readily recall, and 10 of which Korean people can actually understand as I pronounce them. However, I did not have much trouble even in the more rural parts of Korea, where there are fewer English speakers, but some. Also, Google translate, pointing, and goodwill go a long ways. On the other hand, there were lots of markers I wish I could have read, but could not.
- When you’re riding, you’re never very alone. There are always some riders here and there. However, there were many times on the route when there was no one around I could see. It was the best of both worlds, an experience of solitude and reassurance that if I needed some human help, someone would come by soon enough.
- A knock on this route is that there are more beautiful (particularly seaside) bike routes in Korea. And it is true that while there is grateful variation, the whole of the route is mostly rivers and mountains. But on the plus side, it is a wonderfully long continuous route, has some challenges but is not too challenging, and in the end, you want to say you biked from Korea’s biggest city to its second biggest, across almost the entire country. Don’t you?
- Here’s my route. But please do not follow it without review. There were problems with it here and there. You can get lots of versions of this route on ridewithgps and I assume other sites.