Around Daisetsuzan 6 Day Hiking Tour

Your group will meet between 9:00 am and 9:30 am in Central Asahikawa. Once everyone is together in Asahikawa, we’ll spend some time getting to know each other and the programme for our upcoming adventure before heading off to Arashiyama to warm up our legs.

Arashiyama is an urban forest park, popular with Asahikawa locals for its accessibility and the panorama of the city from the top. For the local Ainu ( the indigenous people of Hokkaido ), this is a special place known as ” ci-nomi-sir ” in their language. They perform an annual ritual at the end of May here, thanking the Gods for their blessings and praying for another year full of peace and happiness.

After our hike, we will have lunch with the Ainu in a replica of a traditional house known as a ” cise ” and learn about their culture, history and how they relate to nature in their beliefs and lifestyles. In the late afternoon, we will travel by van for approximately one hour to Asahidake Onsen situated at 1,100m above sea level. We stay the night here in the crisp mountain air enjoying the natural hot springs fed by Mt Asahidake.

Asahidake Onsen is a popular entry point to Daisetsuzan National Park. The park is Japan’s largest in size, and one of the first designated as a National Park in 1934. While Daisetsuzan is typically known as the Roof of Hokkaido, in the Ainu world, it is known as ” kamuy-mintar ”, meaning the Playground of the Gods.

We make our way into this sacred location by cable car to Sugatami Station at 1,600m , then start climbing to the summit of Mt. Asahidake. At 2,291m , this is the highest you can get in Hokkaido . Our journey continues on the outer ring of the majestic Ohachidaira volcanic caldera, which was formed by an eruption about 30,000 years ago.

In the afternoon, we set foot on the summit of Mt. Hokkai ( 2,149m ) and Mt. Kurodake ( 1,984m ) before descending into Sounkyo Gorge with the help of a chair lift followed by another cable car. Sounkyo Gorge is a picturesque onsen village nestled between the mountains and the cliffs, making it a popular destination for onsen, hiking and skiing. It will be our welcome home for the night.

Alternative Route

This is our biggest hike of the tour and it is almost entirely on exposed ridgelines. Depending on the weather and group dynamics, we may change the traverse hike to a loop hike, returning via Nakadake Onsen after summiting Mt. Asahidake. This hike still takes you to the outer rim of Ohachidaira Caldera but lets us drop down to lower elevation sooner, avoiding spending the whole day on the exposed caldera rim. The distance and the duration are similar to the traverse and we will transfer by van to Sounkyo.

Today we will have an early start and drive over to Kogen Onsen which is 1 hour away from Sounkyo. Daisetsu Kogen serves as a trailhead for the popular Kogen Numa (alpine ponds) hiking trail. This area is far from civilization and home to a great number of native brown bears, higuma , which are occasionally spotted by hikers in early summer. After arriving we have a briefing at the Higuma Information Centre about the bear activity and the latest sightings before we hit the trail.

Situated between 1,230m - 1,460m above sea level, the Kogen Numa provides opportunities to observe alpine flora and over a dozen alpine ponds of various sizes scattered along the trail. Once we return from our hike, we board our van to transfer to Nukabira Onsen, a hot spring village situated by Lake Nukabira. We overnight at a historical hotel that has been renovated into a modern Japanese-style inn and is run by a friendly local family.

We’ll kick the day off with a drive along Lake Shikaribetsu on a road only open during the snowless months from April to October. After approximately 30 mins, we’ll arrive at the start of the trail to Mt. Hakuunzan on the shore of Lake Shikaribetsu. We will take a loop walk to the top of Mt. Hakuunzan ( 1,186m ) and back on the lakeshore trail, which usually takes about 3 hours to complete. From the summit there’s a stunning view of Lake Shikaribetsu and if we are lucky, a chance to spot the Northern pika (rock rabbit) in their rocky dwellings.

After our hike, we’ll have lunch at a cafe on the lake side, and then drive 2 hours to our accommodation in Furano. The Furano area is known for its flower gardens, fresh produce and scenic landscapes and the town is sandwiched between the Tokachi Volcanic Group and the Yubari Mountain Range. Tonight, we will dine out in downtown Furano.

We’ll have an early breakfast at our hotel, and head for Mt. Furano’s trailhead, situated at 1,270m above sea level. On the way, we will drop by a store to buy lunch and snacks to enjoy a picnic during the hike.

Mt. Furano is one of Japan’s Top 100 mountains famous for flowers and the peak attracts hikers from all over Japan to admire the alpine flowers in bloom during the summer months. As well as the flowers, the views over the adjoining peaks of Mt. Sanpou, Mt. Kamifurano and Mt. Tokachi from the ridgeline are breathtaking. It is a fitting finale to conclude our multi-day hiking adventure in the Daisetsuzan Mountains.

After the hike, we will transfer by van for 70 mins and return to Asahikawa, where we started our journey. We will celebrate the completion of our tour over dinner in downtown Asahikawa.

Our tour finishes after breakfast at our hotel. You can walk over to the Asahikawa JR Station, from where you can take a train to Sapporo or a bus to Asahikawa Airport to head to your next destination. Itterashai!