The temperature is perfect, the leaves are turning into fiery colors – there’s nothing better than going out for an autumn hike. Karasawa Cirque is, definitely, one of the best autumn hikes in Nagano.
Distance: approx. 30 km
Time required approx. 11 hrs. (2 days, 1 night)
Elevation Gain: 800 m
Hiking season: May – October
Itinerary:
Day1: Kamikochi Bus Terminal > Tokusawa > Yokoo Sanso > Karasawa Cirque
Day 2: Karasawa Cirque > Yokoo Sanso > Tokusawa > Kamikochi Bus Terminal
Mountains are connected, so you can actually hike from anywhere. But in this blog, we will give directions on how to hike from Kamikochi, which is the easiest and most popular route.
The total hiking distance is about 30 km long. This time we had a 2 days, 1 night hiking plan, staying overnight at the Karasawa Hutte.
If you are a slow walker or you happen to start your hike late or you are still new to hiking, I recommend you stay at Yokoo Sanso, instead. Your hiking plan might look something like this.
Day 1: Kamikochi Bus Terminal > Yokoo Sanso (overnight)
Day 2: Yokoo Sanso > Karasawa Cirque > Yokoo Sanso (overnight)
Day 3: Yokoo Sanso > Kamikochi Bus Terminal
Whatever hiking plan you make, ensure that you are able to reach the mountain lodge or campsite at around 2-3PM (or the latest at 4PM).
Mountain huts usually offer lunch menus, snacks and drinks for non-staying hikers. The farther you go, the higher the prices, which is understandable, considering the transportation cost. For example, one can of Coca-Cola sold at Karasawa Hutte costs 400 yen, about 3 times the normal price.
Note: Most mountain huts don’t accept credit cards, so please bring enough cash.
*Approx. price is per person including 2 meals. / **Shower only, no soap and shampoo allowed.
For the latest information, please contact each mountain hut directly.
Tokusawa lodge is the most well-equipped one out of the four. They even provide you with free Wi-Fi and basic amenities like in typical hotels. Yokoo Sanso is also a quite comfortable mountain lodge, especially for newbie hikers, because they have a public bath for you to wash out dirt.
Karasawa Hutte and Karasawa-koya are the most popular ones for those going to Karasawa Cirque, owing to its location and superb views. But in comparison, I would say Karasawa Hutte is probably a little more popular than Karasawa-koya. During the ‘Koyo’ season, it is so crowded that you might have to share one futon (bed) with other two strangers. Reservation is available 1 month prior (by phone only).
Anyone going further than the flat area of Kamikochi needs to summit a trekking itinerary. The mailbox is located at the entrance of Kamikochi Information Center, next to the toilets. There are forms for filling provided at the post. But our advice is to download the form online and fill it out beforehand for a smoother process.
Download the trekking itinerary form >
The mailbox for submitting your trekking itinerary.
Read also: Recommended Hotel in Kamikochi (with a Natural Hot Spring!)
From the bus terminal, you can walk on both sides of the Azusa River but if you choose to walk on the right shore (the opposite side of the bus terminal), you have to cross the Myojin Bridge to get back to the trail.
After about an hour, we see the first landmark on this hiking trail, a lodge and restaurant, Myojin-kan. There’s still a long, long way to go, so we walk past without stopping.
The trail is easy to follow, as we will be walking along the Azusa River more than half of our journey.
The next stop is Tokusawa, which is only about 2 hours from the Kappa Bridge. If you come here around the middle of May until early June, you will see a carpet of little white flowers called “Nirin-so”. It is one of the signs of spring in Kamikochi.
Surrounded by tree shades, this is a tenting area near Tokusawa Lodge.
Walk, walk, walk!
From this point, the trail gets a lot steeper. On the way climbing up, we saw a lady hobbling down with one leg tied to a makeshift splint made from a hiking pole. She was crying without a sound. (You know how bad it is when you cry silently.) Shortly after that, we saw a rescue team passing, assumed that they were rushing to help that poor lady. So, everyone, please be very careful!
Another major landmark is this short section of rocky path, where one side is a huge slope of rocks, while the other side is a jaw-dropping beautiful ravine. However, it is a dangerous spot with high risk of falling rocks, so don’t stop here for too long.
This little sign tells you that you have now arrived the point called “S Gare”. “Gare” in Japanese means “a scree slope”. Nothing special, it’s just a sign telling you that there is only about 1 hour left to Karasawa Cirque.
The passing scenery was mind blowing, but the nearer you get to the Karasawa Cirque, the scenery gets even better as you can see more vivid autumn leaves.
Soy sauce based ramen noodles and Coca-Cola.
Various menus include curry rice, beef bowl, cup noodles, beers and even a soft serve!
Too bad that almost shortly after we had arrived, the sky suddenly got cloudy. We should have taken more photos when the sky was still clear.
The place we stayed for the night is “Karasawa Hutte”, which is only a few steps below the terrace. It is a very well organized and comfortable mountain hut. It consists of 3 separate buildings.
We were assigned a room with bunk beds to sleep with other 6 people. The room was clean but if you need a higher level of cleanliness, you can buy a disposable inner sheet to put inside your bedding. I am not sure but from what I see there are rooms where you sleep side by side with other people like any other mountain huts. By the way, the lights-out time is 9:00 PM.
Note: Paid toilets (100 yen) are available for non-staying guests (free for staying guests). You should expect a long queue in the morning.
The lights shining through from inside these colorful tents with the Hotaka Mountains behind is one of the main events that everyone waits to see. It is said that the record for the highest number of tents is as many as 1,400 in just one night! The building standing individually beyond the tents area is another mountain hut, “Karasawa Koya”.
The next morning was quite busy as we woke up early at 5AM, quickly finished our breakfast and hurried to secure a spot to witness “morgenrot”, a fantastic phenomenon when the rising sun casts its reddish rays across the mountain peaks. This term comes from German words, “morgen” (morning) and “rot” (red). The memorable moment lasts only about 5-10 minutes and will not happen unless the conditions are met. So, yes. We were lucky enough!
Nagano prefecture is surrounded by mountains, including the Japanese Alps. There are several places that you can see morgenrot, even from the downtown. Maybe we can write about that for the next blog entry!
Another reason why Kamikochi is such a popular hiking destination is that it is very easy to get to, with various bus routes from all major cities.
It takes 30 minutes by train from JR Matsumoto station to Shin-Shimashima station. After getting off at Shin-Shimashima terminal station, you need to change to the bus bound for Kamikochi and continue the journey for another 1 hour to reach Kamikochi. Services are frequent with trains and buses departing every hour.
See timetable for Matsumoto – Kamikochi Line >
Starting from 2021, We added two direct buses from Matsumoto Bus Terminal to Kamikochi. This bus is called the “National Park Liner”. (Reservation required)
Book a direct bus from Matsumoto to Kamikochi >
Read also: How to get to Kamikochi from Matsumoto by bus (in details)
See timetable for Tokyo – Kamikochi Line >
See timetable for Shinjuku – Kamikochi Line >
The buses departing from Shibuya and Kawagoe only have a day bus service with standard 4-row seat type available.
See timetable for Shibuya – Kamikochi Line >
See timetable for Kawagoe/Omiya – Kamikochi Line >
Another way to travel to Kamikochi from Tokyo is to use the JR limited express train Azusa (2.5-3hrs / 6,900 yen) or Alpico highway bus (3.15hrs / 4,100～4,500 yen) to get to Matsumoto first, then change to a local train and bus.
See timetable for Nagano – Kamikochi Line >