Gangwon
Bicycle Path
Want to visit seaside cafés? Beaches? The demilitarized zone?
The Gangwon Bicycle Path (동해안자전거길 (강원); map) follows the shoreline of Gangwon Province (강원도; map) on Korea’s East Coast Route.
This second longest certification bike path travels through resort cities, passes bunkers and barbed wire fences, and explores beaches. It concludes near the DMZ, the border between North and South Korea.
Samcheok City
(삼척시)
14.5 hours
Goseong County
(고성군)
- Time 14 hrs 39 min (2 to 4 days)
- Length 225 km (140 miles)
- Elevation 104 m | 0 m (341 ft | 0 ft)
- Difficulty 🚲🚲🚲🚲
- Certifications Gangwon, Grand Slam
Sail from a fishing village down country roads to a pair of port cities.
Discover a seaside ship hotel, crowded beaches, and a famed coffee street.
Hop from one tourist city to another. Find beaches and cuisine between.
Ride the last stretch of the East Coast Route by rocky coastlines. End at the DMZ.
Learn Gangwon Province’s coastline.
Learn about the sea on Korea’s east coast.
Read about the top highlights along the Gangwon Bicycle Path.
How to get you and your bicycle to the Gangwon Bicycle Path by bus.
Municipalities
The Gangwon (East Coast) Bike Path crosses six cities and counties in Gangwon Province. Read these short profiles of each.
- Gangwon Province (강원도; map), Korea’s second largest and one of two bordering North Korea, hosts the nation’s recreational retreats. With forests and powder blanketed mountains in the west, and an expansive coastline in the east, the province boasts two famous seaside cities. Oh, and it hosted the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
- Samcheok City (삼척시; map), one of Korea’s least populated cities, lives on the East Sea near Donghae City. The city grew a reputation for its cement mining and spelunking because it sits on limestone bedrock. Its coast hosts a rail bike and cable car.
- Donghae City (동해시; map) gets its name from its eastern neighbor: the East Sea (/dōng/, 동, “east”; /hāe/, 해, “sea”). One of Gangwon Province’s larger cities, it operates two important east coast ports, which export iron and coal, keep key naval assets, and launch cruise ships to distant Ulleung Island.
- Gangneung City (강릉시; map) is the largest settlement along Gangwon Province’s coast. It holds beaches famed for the New Year’s Sunrise, a seaside lake, and resort hotels. Because it is the nearest city to Pyeongchang, Gangneung hosted several 2018 Winter Olympic events.
- Yangyang County (양양군; map) wedges between Gangneung and Sokcho. Because of its small population, it borrows education and firefighting services from them. However, the county holds a multitude of religious and vacation spots, including a private surfing beach.
- Sokcho City (속초시; map) is a famed east coast tourist town often mobbed by Seoulites. Tourist destinations include Seorak Mountain, the third tallest in South Korea, a pair of sea lakes with marinas, and golf and horseback riding facilities.
- Goseong County (고성군; map) is South Korea’s most northeastern district, split in half by the Korean War and DMZ. Tourists visit seaside resorts and the Unification Observatory, which gazes into North Korea and Geumgang Mountain.
Certification
The Gangwon (East Coast) Bicycle Path holds twelve certification centers throughout its run.
Collect all stamps and receive the Gangwon (East Coast) Bike Path certification. The route counts towards the Grand Slam certification. There isn’t an East Coast certification.
Certification Centers
Here is a complete list of certification centers along the Gangwon (East Coast) Bike Path.
How To Get There
The Gangwon (East Coast) Bike Path passes large resort cities and port towns on Gangwon Province’s shores. Its local trains don’t accept bikes. But their busy intercity buses do.
Intercity Bus
Don’t have a car? There’s just one way to get to the Gangwon Bike Path with your bike: intercity buses.
Gangwon Province’s largest cities lie in the middle of the province, not near the bike path’s start or finish lines. You may need to catch a connecting bus to arrive at the southern and northern endpoints.
Southern Endpoint
Most of Korea’s certification bike paths start and end with certification centers (stamp booths). Only the north end of the Gangwon Bike Path finishes at a stamp booth. Its bottom end sits in the remote Gopo Port (고포항; map) on Samcheok City’s southern border.
Three tiny intercity bus stops rest near this start line:
