Enjoy Hiking In Tochigi, With A Great View Of Colored Leaves

Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture is only 2 hours to 2 hours 30 minutes away from Tokyo by both car and train. Nikko is known as having a great mountains' scenery of colored leaves in fall. Hiking in such a beautiful mountain with a lot of colors will make your trip in Japan memorable. Nikko is a great sightseeing spot with a lot of activities and things to see. After hiking in a beautiful mountain, you can take a break at a hot spring and eat delicious Nikko's specialty Soba noodle!

Summary

There are so many hiking courses in Japan. You can choose courses depending on your purpose and the season. Different sceneries and atmospheres will welcome you everywhere you go hiking. Before introducing a great hiking spot in Nikko, I would like to introduce some of the best hiking spots with: easy access with tons of sightseeing spot, and great nature attractions with beautiful sceneries.

Great Access From Tokyo! Mt. Takao Is A Best Place To Hike For Everyone From Children To Adults

hiking tochigi Mt. Takao is a great place to hike for families, friends, couples, and all groups of people in all ages. There are more than 10 courses, and there are many spots to see while you are hiking such as an observatory, a monkey park, restaurants and so on. Mt. Takao is located in Hachioji, Tokyo so if you are staying in Tokyo, you can even have a day trip.

Pick A Course That Fits Your Purpose And What You Want To See!

There are more than 10 courses you can choose from in Mt. Takao. The most popular course is the course #1 in which you take a cable car to Mt. Takao station and walk from there. The path is paved so you can wear casual clothes and shoes. It is a great course for beginners too. The best part of taking the cable car is the scenery you can see from it. Especially in the fall, all leaves in the mountains change its colors and you can see a beautiful various colored mountains right in front of you. In addition, the scenery from the cable car at night is great as well.

After getting off the cable car at Mt. Takao station, there is an observatory, so you can enjoy more beautiful views from there. The reason why Mt. Takao is such a popular place is that you can not only go hiking but also visit a lot of sightseeing spots while hiking.

You Can See Monkeys While You Are Hiking On Mt. Takao?!

hiking tochigi If you have a time, you can stop by the “Monkey park” on the course #2. There are more than 70 cute monkeys and more than 300 kinds of flowers and plants in a park. It is a great spot for the family.

Let’s Get A Good Luck At A Spiritual Energy Spot And Eat Delicious Soba Noodles

Another popular sightseeing spot in Mt. Takao is “Yakuoin Temple”. This temple is worshipping Tengu,, a legendary creature, and you will see Tengu everywhere in the precinct. You can buy charms and souvenirs related to Tengu in this temple.
After enjoying hiking in Mt. Takao, you can take a break at a restaurant and enjoy Mt. Takao’s specialty food, Soba noodle. Near the top of the mountain, there are a couple of restaurants you can eat Soba noodle. There are sweets and drinks in their menus so you can enjoy delicious food while taking a break.

Enjoy Beautiful Nature Sceneries in Yakushima

hiking tochigi Yakushima is a world heritage site located in Kagoshima, Japan. You can take a plane from Osaka, Fukuoka, or Kagoshima or a ferry from ports in Kagoshima. It is a great nature place and is known for a cedar forest. There are different hiking courses depending on your level and purposes. Yakushima has different faces depending on the season and the best season would be from May to June or November to January. You don’t need any professional equipment or clothes, but at least you would want to wear layers of clothes so that it is easy to adjust to the temperature whichever season you are thinking to go.

So Many Course Options! Make Sure To Know What You Want To See

hiking tochigi There are many different courses that the easiest one would take 30 minutes while the most difficult one takes 11 hours. A lot of people come to see Yakushima to see Jomon Sugi, a large Cryptomeria tree. The trekking course to go to see this tree takes 8 to 11 hours. Even though it takes a long time, the path is paved and there are no dangerous spots on the course so you can enjoy walking to Jomon Sugi. If you aren’t sure about going on your own, there are island tours so you can look them up.

From Lakes To Water Fall, Hiking Courses In Nikko Are Rich In Nature

Hiking courses in Nikko are surrounded by great nature spots with wild animals. You can even see lakes and waterfalls. You can enjoy an amazing scenic view whichever course you choose. Nikko is a great place to hike and there are tons of tourists from both domestic and abroad come to hike in Nikko every year. There are so many great hiking courses. Here are some of them.

1.Senjogahara Field Course

hiking tochigi It is a course you can hike in a forest and a marsh field and see a couple of waterfalls. It takes about 2 hours to 3 hours. Especially from the beginning of summer to mid summer, you can see various kinds of flowers, plants and birds. It is a great course to do bird-watching too. It is a very easy course, so beginners can enjoy hiking here. You can see a great waterfall called “Yudaki” whose length is about 70 meters (229 foot) by the entrance of the path. You can go to see Yudaki really close, and it is truly amazing! Once you start hiking you can also see a waterfall, “Kodaki”, with a unique shape. It is smaller than Yudaki but it is very beautiful. Another must-see spot is the “Izumiyado pond”. There are tables and chairs so you can take a break here while enjoy seeing the beautiful water fountain and pond with a relaxing atmosphere. The last spot is Senjogahara field. It is an open vast marshfield with tons of plants and wild animals. The view is magnificent that you would want to take a picture. Senjogahara course is rich in vegetation and a great course for beginners.

2. Kanmangafuchi Abyss Course

hiking tochigi This is a course in which you can enjoy not only nature but also history. Walking a valley along Daiyagawa river will make you feel refreshed and enjoy cool temperatures. It is only a few hundred meters long(less than one mile). Kanmangafuchi Abyss was formed by an eruption of Mt. Nantai. While you enjoy the refreshing air from Daiyagawa river, you can see a lot of Jizo lined up. It would be fun to count them while walking. It is said that every time you count, the number of Jizo is different according to local mythology! Each Jizo has a different facial expression so it would be fun to see and find your favorite one.

Enjoy Hiking With Etiquette And Manners

To fully enjoy the hiking experience, learning and following local etiquette and manners are necessary. Even though most of manners and etiquettes are in common all over the world, sometimes, there are different rules to follow depending on cultural and environmental differences.

Leave Nothing
Please do not throw any garbage including your belongings and food. It is also important to know to avoid feeding wild animals. Protecting nature and the environment is very important for everyone to enjoy hiking.
Do Not Bring Anything Local Back
Sometimes, flowers and stones you’ve never seen are very attractive and it is understandable that you would want to bring them back to home. Unless it is permitted by public authority, please do not take anything back.
Give Priority To Ascending Hikers
If you are in a narrow space and there is an ascending hiker, please let him/her go first. Also, if you pass each other in a narrow space, please stand on the mountain side so that you don’t slip down. Also it is important to keep your backpack on the mountain side when you are letting someone pass so that you don’t push others.
Don’t Be Too Noisy
It is important to enjoy with your group of friends or family but please do not shout or speak loudly while there are other people enjoying a quiet relaxing moment. Also, if you play music, please use earphones.
Enjoy
Even though there are a couple of rules and manners you have to follow while hiking, the most important rule is to enjoy! If you follow the rules, understand local manners and respect other people, you can fully enjoy the hiking experience!

Take A Tour With An English-Speaking Guide!

There are a lot of private or group tours held in Nikko. Some of them include not only hiking courses, but also other sightseeing spots. You can pick a tour depending on the purpose of your trip and places you want to see. You can find various tours online. You can learn a lot of things about Nikko by taking a tour!

Information

Mt. Takao

By train: Take Keio railways to Takaosanguchi station

By Car: Get off Takaosan IC, drive 5 minutes towards Shinjuku, You’ll see a parking lot, “Mt. Takao Yakuoin Kito Parking lot”. It is 5 minutes’ walk from the parking lot to a cable car station.

Address: Takaomachi, Hachioji, Tokyo 193-0844

Cable Car Hours : 8:00 to 17:45 (*it might have longer hours on weekends and holidays)
Fee: ¥480 (one way), ¥930 (round trip)

Chair Lift Hours: 9:00 to 16:30 (*until 16:00 From December to April)
Fee: ¥480 (one way) ¥930 (round trip)

Monkey Park
Hours: 9:30 to 16:00 (December to February)
10:00 to 16:00 (March and April)
9:30 to 16:30 (May to November)
Fee: ¥420

Yakushima

By Plane: Take a plane from Kagoshima airport. It takes about 30 minutes. Estimated Fee: a little more than ¥10,000

By High speed boat: It takes about 2 hours from a port in Kagoshima. Estimated Fee: Less than ¥10,000

By Ferry: It takes about 4 hours from a port in Kagoshima. Estimated Fee: around ¥5,000

Nikko

By train: Take a JR Tohoku Shinkansen to Utsunomiya from Tokyo station. Then, transfer to JR Nikko line to Nikko station.

By Bus: There are a few highway buses between Narita Airport to Nikko. It costs about 4,500 yen for one way and takes about 3.5 hours.

Senjogahara

Address: Senjogahara, Chugushi, Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture 321-1661

By bus: Tobu bus bound for Yumoto Onsen from JR Nikko station or Tobu Nikko station for about 50 minutes, get off at Sanbon Matsu bus stop and 1 minute walk from there.

By Car: 40 minutes fromNikko Utsunomiya Kiyotaka IC

Kanmangafuchi Abyss

Address: Kanmangafuchi Abyss, 8-28 Takumicho, Nikkō-shi, Tochigi-ken 321-1415

By bus: Take a Tobu bus bound for Yumoto Onsen or Chuzenji lake Onsen from Nikko station for about 10 minutes. Get off at Sogokaikan Mae bus stop and 15 minutes’ walk from the bus stop.