Best River Trails in Japan

Overall pretty good hike, I thought it was beautiful even though the view at the top wasn’t that good, but there are good ones on parts of the trail, definitely a hard one. Some noteworthy mentions: 1) I did this at the end of February and there was a lot of snow on the top, the locals said that it’s not as much as usual, but it was a substantial amount, there was some ice too. I managed alright, besides alot of slips, in worn out tennis shoes 2) after the water falls and you get to where there are two tunnels on either side, go right. A couple miles later when you get to the top of the ridge, turn right, I don’t know what the mountain to the left is. When your coming down and you’re on the first portion of road, when you get back on the trail there will be a sign but the words are faded out, turn left. 3) relatively maintained trail, follow the pink ribbons (I got lost at one point because I didn’t realize that was the marker and was climbing up a steep section of mountain, quite frightening to look straight down). The wood on some bridges is questionable and rotting, but the metal is alright.

Nyudou-gatake(Idotani route↑North ridge route↓), only below knee-high snow at top of mountain and very muddy overall. Fukujusou(yellow flower) are bloomed right now at idotani route.

Great day out with good views good for part-time hikers, not a short trip!

The mount Tanzawa is a wonderful hike but i dont recomend climb the mount in the winter if you dont have necessary equipments for hike in the snow. Dont have too much hikers in the trail in the winter.

Amazing!! Walked the opposite direction and finished off at the onsen — was definitely the move.

Beautiful hike! As some others have stated, I’d recommend starting at Kurama instead. If you get off at Kibuneguchi station and follow the trail as suggested the first ~2 miles are uphill on a road with no sidewalk and not a whole lot to see- it was much better taking this downhill at the end. Other than that this whole area is beautiful and completely worth the short trek from Kyoto.

Beautiful, easy and short hike. Not much trails feature both abandoned train tunnels, and side river walks! Do not expect dramatic landscapes, though. Just go for it, is definitely worth it! However, be careful with the bridge in Aobadai. It was closed when I went there and I had to take a long detour. Take a look at my record to see the spot.

Took the 6th trail up, 4th down to the cable car.

Great trail. You’re walking through the water the majority of the time so water shoes are amazing for this! It’s not physically demanding, more like a stroll to a beautiful waterfall. I wouldn’t recommend going right after it rains since the water will be higher it would be more difficult to see some of the rocks to jump across. The waterfall also has a rope swing so you can plunge in!

The bamboo forest is unbelievable. I would fully recommend getting there as early as possible as it is a tourist trap, gets super busy.

I like to hike here in October... there is a beautiful 3-layer-colors of mountain view!! Green at a foot of mountain, and climb up higher, colors are change to yellow and red of autumn colors, and top of Yake-dake there is a view of Hodaka mountain which is covered by snow... green and yellow/red and white.... just beautiful. ※Helmet required!! Yake-dale is an active volcano.

I did it a few times, during different seasons and it changes so much that it's worth coming back for another go. Highly recommended!

We hiked from Kurama to Kifune and loved it! It's probably one of the best I've experienced in Japan. If you can deal with inclines, it's easy. We had a 5/6 month pregnant lady in our group...the reactions from people passing us were awesome :d

We went to Uji to walk this path without expecting much but man o man were we surprised by its beauty! Highly recommended. Do venture into town once you finish, you will find lots of restaurants. PS It can be classified as stroller friendly IF you have a high end one with large tires and suspension AND can lift it in certain spots :)

ready easy! so beautiful! I did it on New year's Eve Wich is the time of the year when everyone goes to the shrine so it was a bit crowded but definitely worth it!!

Easy and fun walk. We caught the train to nishinomiyanajio station. It is an easy walk to the start of the trail from here. Friendly local restaurant at the end of the trail at Takedao then train back to Osaka. Allow 4-5 hours from Osaka return. There is a helpful map showing the route from each station to the trail here.... https://nishinomiya-kanko.jp/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/haisen_map_2018.pdf

Short river hike with an awesome waterfall at the end. Not physically demanding, but it can be technical in sections. Plan to get wet. You must cross at least waist deep water in one section. You can hike the river the entire way starting from the parking area, or take the road that parallels the river for the first half. The pay-by-the-hour parking lot is open 0800-1730 with last entry at 1600. We paid 400 yen for 2 hrs. There are nice restroom facilities including a shower.

Wasn’t anywhere near as hard as I expected so I went off the beaten path on my way back and ended up just walking back to my hotel. Beautiful hike with stunning views. Stairs from the bottom to the top with a couple of rest stops along the way. No view from the top but nice views of the city from a couple of spots on the way up.

Great trail! Waited by the temple at the start for 40 minutes until 830am when it opened only to realize the trail started the next street over and behind the temple. Still managed to beat the crowds! Went through the bamboo forest and then over and up to the monkey sanctuary. Easy hike without much of a climb

This was the first trail I tried suggested by the AllTrails app and I loved it. It was easy to do (I did it in a sunny December day), has beautiful sights along the way and it’s well marked both in Japanese and in English.

Well marked - we walked from Kibune/kibuneguchi to Kurama and it was a good choice. The food options in karabe were not as numerous or varied as we had hoped/ thought there would be. We took the trolley down which was fine - straight down but not very scenic, it probably cuts 20min off the hike. It would be beautiful to do this as night with the trail lanterns to guide you.

I was there to see the autumn leaves and hopped on to the Kyoto city bus from Omiya Shijo station heading to Takaosan 高雄 (not the Takaosan 高尾山 in Tokyo) From the Takaosan Jingoji Temple, I walked 4km along the river downstream and it was a very pleasant trail, mostly flat surrounded by autumn leaves. The end of this trail will take you directly to the entrance of the Mount Atago, the ometosando route. The trail was paved very well with all the sign boards of total 4km uphill (1/40 to 40/40, every 100m, there was a sign board, so you won’t loss your direction). Over 80% of the trail were steps going upward and there were also few decent rest areas along the way. Highly recommended to bring water and snacks. It took me 2 hours to get on top of the mountain (924m). There was a large space on top on the mountain where you could have your bento lunch while enjoying the mountain view, overlooking Arashiyama from a distance. I took the same route down as I couldn’t find other routes. Yet there was a fork road which I took and it directly led me to Hozukyo station direction instead of Kiyotaki station. The downhill trail was fun, covered with fallen leaves and sometimes small rocks, it only took me 40 mins to come down where I took a local bus back to Hozukyo station. Overall it’s a great hike, trail route was well maintained and not difficult. There were not many people on the routes and majority of them were locals. Great getaway from hustle and bustle Kyoto touristic spots, even I am also a tourist!

Quite crowded when I went - a weekend in late autumn - so going was a little slow. Made it to the top in around 4.5 hours, while stopping for many breaks and lunch. Wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, with steep sections interspersed with flatter sections. There were many kids and older people going alongside us.

Very easy trail, really not even that much of a trial, more of a touristy nature walk since it’s always crowded with tourists. Still, if you’re in Kyoto this is a MUST DO.

Summer night hiking in Kyoto. I went to Mt. Atago in Kyoto to see the night festival at Atago Shine. So many people in Kyoto walk to pray eight-kilometer pilgrimage route once a year on July 31st. It takes about 3 hours to the top. I stated at 11 pm from Kyoto station and return at 6 am next day. People in Kyoto believe they go to Atago Shine that day and to make them happy and to be peaceful. It's a pilgrimage trip on a summer night in Kyoto.

These are some pictures on the top of Mount Rokko. You can see the city of Kobe,Osaka very well and beautiful night view from there.

I went hiking to the top of 4 mountains in Tokyo.It wasn’t cold and good weather for hiking. I saw the white house statue and ate the mushroom miso soup at the top. In the end I went to Takao temple. 2,000 calories on 20 km walk.

It was very tiring but was very worth.