🌿 Nature
Oirase Gorge
A famous mountain stream of mossy rapids and waterfalls, walked on an easy riverside trail.
Typical duration
150 min
Price
Free
From port
42 km / 26.1 mi
Transfer time
100 min
Indoor / Outdoor
outdoor
Queue risk
low
🕐 Best time to visit
Fresh green in early summer; blazing colour in mid-October
The Oirase Gorge follows the only stream that flows out of Lake Towada, a gentle 14-kilometre valley where the water tumbles over mossy rocks and past a string of named waterfalls. A near-level walking path shadows the road along the riverbank, so you can stroll a section - the stretch around the Choshi Otaki and Kumoi falls is the most spectacular - without any real climbing. It is loveliest in the fresh green of early summer and, most famously, in the fiery foliage of mid-October, one of the great autumn sights of northern Japan.
Getting there from the port
Seasonal JR bus (Mizuumi-go) or coach, about 100 minutes into the mountains