Kamikochi: the Japanese Alps valley, from Taisho Pond to Hotaka Shrine

Japan's most beautiful valley, at 1,500 meters, closed to private cars: a pond with the reflection of a volcano, a wooden bridge facing 3,000-meter peaks, boardwalks through a birch forest, a loop to the sacred Myojin Pond, and at the end of the day an onsen in the forest. A flat 11 km walk that anyone can do.

A day of walking in Kamikochi, a valley at 1,500 meters in the Japanese Alps that private cars do not enter: you get there only by bus or taxi. You get off the bus at Taisho Pond, walk along the Azusa River to Kappa Bridge, and carry on along the same bank upstream, through the Dakesawa Marsh, to Myojin Pond. There you eat lunch, cross the river and return along the other bank to the bus terminal, without walking the same trail twice. At the end of the day you ride to a bath at Hirayu Onsen, and from there to dinner in Takayama. Almost everything is on foot, about 11 flat km on trails and boardwalks. The valley is open only from 17 April to 15 November 2026. The rides from Takayama: ¥1,600 to Hirayu and ¥1,500 from there to the valley, each way, so ¥6,200 round trip, and a combined round-trip ticket costs ¥5,800.

Verified online, October 20267 stops · 08:00 to 20:15¥6,400 · ≈ $41 per personWalking between stops: 190 min · Transport: ¥3,100Nature walkGood with kidsApril to November only

The day on a map

7 stops, in order

Stops: 7
Walking minutes: 135

Stop number on the timelineWalkingTrain, metro or busBase map: © OpenStreetMap

Open this day in Google Maps

The same stops with the same numbers, and the way from stop to stop. On a phone it opens in the app, and that is what you navigate with in Japan. Pin names on the map are in Hebrew.

Getting there: The valley is open to traffic from 17 April to 15 November 2026, and private cars cannot pass the Kama Tunnel in any season. From Matsumoto: the Alpico train from Matsumoto Station to Shin-Shimashima, 30 minutes, ¥710, and from there the Alpico bus, ¥3,100. The 06:31 train connects to the 07:10 bus, which stops at Taisho-ike at 08:04. There is also a direct bus from the Matsumoto bus terminal at 05:30, ¥5,000. On Alpico buses, passengers with a reservation board first, and those without one board only if seats are left. Reservations open a month ahead, on the Hassha Orai Net website or at the ticket offices. From Takayama: the Nohi bus from the bus station next to the train station to Hirayu Onsen, about an hour, ¥1,600, and there you change to the shuttle to the valley, ¥1,500, no reservation. The 06:00 bus from Takayama reaches Hirayu at 06:53, and the shuttles leave Hirayu every half hour, at :00 and :30, and reach Taisho-ike after 16 minutes. A Takayama-Kamikochi round-trip ticket via Hirayu costs ¥5,800 and is valid for 7 days.

08:0009:00
Stop 1NatureMust
Taisho Pond: the reflection of Mount Yakedake in the morning
You start at the Taisho-ike stop, two stops before the terminal. In the morning, before the wind picks up, the pond is a mirror of the active volcano Yakedake, and dead tree trunks rise from the water: the pond formed in 1915, when mud from the Yakedake eruption blocked the river. Morning mist is a bonus, not a problem. From here a flat boardwalk sets out along the river.
FreeOpen in Maps
Walk to Kappa Bridge
- Walk · 75 minThe boardwalk to Tashiro Pond, 25 minutes, and 20 more minutes to Tashiro Bridge. There you cross to the right bank and continue past the Weston Monument to Kappa Bridge, 30 more minutes. About 3.8 flat km.
On the way you can stop at:
Tashiro Pond and Tashiro Marsh: A shallow pond and a marshy meadow halfway along, where azaleas and marsh plants bloom from mid-June to early July.
10:1510:45
Stop 2BridgeMust
Kappa Bridge and the Azusa river: the Hotaka peaks
The wooden suspension bridge that is the symbol of Kamikochi, facing the Hotaka range, 3,190 meters, with a river beneath it so clear you can see the bottom. Across the bridge, on the bus terminal side, are the visitor center, toilets and shops. At midday the bridge fills up, so take photos now. Japanese macaques wander around here, and you do not feed them.
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On to the Dakesawa Marsh
- Walk · 10 minBack to the right-bank end of the bridge, and up the river on the nature trail, about 500 meters, to the Dakesawa boardwalk.
10:5511:20
Stop 3ForestRecommended
Dakesawa Marsh: the boardwalk through the birch forest
A boardwalk over a marsh with springs, in a forest of birch and larch, and a viewing deck facing Mount Roppyaku. Here too is the trailhead sign for Mount Hotaka, for those who dream. Kamikochi is the starting point for serious climbs, and you see people here with 30-kilo packs. Not today.
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On to Myojin Pond
- Walk · 40 minStay on the right bank and carry on up the river on the forest trail, about 2 km, to the gate of the Hotaka inner shrine, near Myojin Bridge.
12:0012:40
Stop 4Sacred pondMust
Myojin Pond and the inner shrine of Hotaka
Myojin Pond lies inside the inner shrine of Hotaka: clear water, a wooden boat, and silence. Admission is ¥500, 06:00 to 17:00, from 17 April to 15 November. From here you do not go back the same way: cross Myojin Bridge to the left bank, and return along it. The whole loop from Kappa Bridge and back is about 6 km.
¥500 · ≈ $3Open in Maps
Across to lunch
- Walk · 10 minFrom the shrine gate over Myojin Bridge to the left bank, and from there to the Myojinkan lodge, about 500 meters.
12:5013:35
Stop 5LunchIf there is time
Lunch break at Myojin
You eat at Myojin, halfway around the loop, at one of the two old mountain huts on either side of the bridge. Food in the valley costs more than in town, and the view is included. A cheap alternative: a bento you buy in Matsumoto and eat on a bench by the river, as the Japanese do. From early November check ahead, because both end their season before the valley closes. The options:
- Kamonji-goya¥1,000 to ¥2,300
  A hut from 1880 by the gate of Myojin Pond, before you cross the bridge. Iwana char are grilled here over a wood fire in an open hearth: ¥1,500 a fish, ¥2,300 as a set, and soba from ¥1,000. Food is served 10:00 to 14:00, from 25 April to mid-November, with irregular closing days.
- Myojinkan¥1,000 to ¥1,500
  A lodge in mountain-hut style on the left bank, across the bridge: a grilled iwana set ¥1,500, soba with nozawana ¥1,000, and Myojin curry ¥1,000. Food is served 07:00 to 16:00, from late April to early November.
- Kosher or vegan? Every kosher and vegan place in this city
¥2,000 · ≈ $13Open in Maps
Back to the terminal and on to Hirayu
- Bus · 85 min · ¥1,500Down the river on the left bank, through Konashidaira, 50 minutes to Kappa Bridge and 6 more minutes to the bus terminal, about 2.8 km. The Nohi shuttle to Hirayu Onsen leaves every half hour, at :00 and :30, and takes 25 minutes. Take the 15:00 shuttle. The last one leaves at 17:30.
15:3017:20
Stop 6OnsenRecommended
Hirayu Onsen: a bath in the forest after the walk
A small onsen town in the direction of Takayama, 25 minutes by shuttle, where a few ryokan open their outdoor pools to day visitors, about ¥800 to ¥1,000, and you check at the information center at the bus station. The big place for day visitors is Hirayu no Mori, 10 to 15 minutes on foot from the station: outdoor pools in the forest, from a cloudy white spring and from a clear spring, ¥700, 10:00 to 21:00. The last bus to Takayama leaves at 17:30, and you have about an hour in the water. If you are sleeping in Matsumoto, you stay longer: the last bus from Hirayu to the Matsumoto terminal leaves at 17:55 and arrives at 19:23, ¥3,000.
¥900 · ≈ $6Open in Maps
Ride to Takayama
- Bus · 60 min · ¥1,600The Nohi bus from the Hirayu Onsen bus station at 17:30, the last of the day, to the Nohi bus station in Takayama, next to the train station. You arrive at 18:31.
18:4520:15
Stop 7DinnerRecommended
Dinner in Takayama
You reach Takayama in the evening and eat Hida beef near the station. If you went back to Matsumoto, eat soba there. In the valley itself there is no evening, unless you sleep at a hotel in Kamikochi, and then it is worth it: the stars, once the buses leave. The options in Takayama:
- Maruaki
  A Hida beef yakiniku restaurant, about 5 minutes on foot from the station. Dinner 17:00 to 21:00, last order 20:30, and open all year except 1 January.
- Tsuzumi Soba
  Takayama ramen, in a restaurant open since 1956. Dinner 17:00 to 21:00, and it closes when the noodles run out. Closed on Tuesdays, and on Sundays lunch only.
- Kyoya¥1,800
  Hida cooking in an old wooden house, 15 minutes on foot from the station: Hida beef on charcoal around a hearth, and the hoba miso set, Hida beef with miso on a magnolia leaf, ¥1,800. Until 22:00, last order 21:00, closed on Tuesdays.
- Kosher or vegan? Every kosher and vegan place in this city
¥3,000 · ≈ $19Open in Maps

Kamikochi: the Japanese Alps valley, from Taisho Pond to Hotaka Shrine

7 stops, in order

Taisho Pond: the reflection of Mount Yakedake in the morning

Kappa Bridge and the Azusa river: the Hotaka peaks

Dakesawa Marsh: the boardwalk through the birch forest

Myojin Pond and the inner shrine of Hotaka

Lunch break at Myojin

Hirayu Onsen: a bath in the forest after the walk

Dinner in Takayama

Hakuba: skiing the Olympic runs of Happo-One and an alkaline onsen

Takayama: the morning markets, the Sanmachi lanes, sake and Hida beef

Shirakawa-go: the thatched village in the valley, from the morning viewpoint to the Wada House

Kanazawa: Omicho Market, the geisha district, Kenroku-en Garden and gold leaf

Matsumoto: wasabi in the field, Yayoi Kusama, the frog street and the Crow Castle

Nagano: the snow monkeys in the onsen, Zenko-ji Temple and the town of Shibu Onsen