Mostly Japanese Mountains: Mountain biking in the Sayama Nature Park

This post is dedicated to Michael B., a legend of mountain biking. He left us too soon.

Welcome to the mancave. I trust you are beating the heat this summer.

I decided to drop by a cooler part of the man-cave today since the heat of July is upon us. It has been quite a while since I ventured up to the Sayama Hills and Tama Lake area and since today was a better day for a bike ride than a hike, I headed up there.

The Sayama Nature Park is a sprawling wooded area surrounding two large lakes divided between two prefectures and spreading across several cities and towns.

The two lakes, Sayama Lake to the west in Saitama, and Tama Lake to the east in Tokyo are both drinking water reservoirs. Both lakes offer great views of the mountains to the north, west, and south.

Since they are sources of drinking water, there is no boating, swimming, or fishing. The area surrounding the lake does have plenty of opportunities for leisure. As I already said, there are LOTS of hiking and biking trails. The trail surfaces range from rocky and bumpy mountain trails to smooth, level hiking paths to paved dedicated bicycle paths to paved roads for car traffic. Along with those pathways, there are numerous picnic spots, restaurants, onsens, and love hotels. (Rest ¥4,000! Stay ¥8,000. You can imagine.) The Seibu Lions (pro baseball) play at the Belunna Dome and kids of all ages can play at the Seibu Yuenchi (Amusement Park). There are too many shrines and temples to count.

I can get to the general area from home in about a half-hour. To take a trip around both lakes is about 20 km. You could cut the trip more than in half by circumventing only one of the lakes. There are also too-many-to-count minor trails you can detour on. As a matter of fact, I should tell you that a GPS is a good thing to have here because it's easy to get twisted around.

Japan cracks me up. There is so much random cuteness. This is the last house before entering the park.

Starting out. This is one type of road surface.

I actually got off my bike and did some "climbing" today.

I made it to the "top" of this 145-meter-tall "mountain." I try to climb at least one mountain a week. I guess this counts.

Tama Lake below with the Belluna/Seibu Dome in the distance. That dome is a great landmark from the mountains. It is visible for a long way.

The domed structures in the foreground are water intake towers. They are where the drinking water pipelines begin.

The Ferris Wheel at Seibu Yuenchi from Tama Lake

Getting to the area between the two lakes now. This is the dome up close. I think there actually was a game going on.

Now starting around Sayama Lake. The road surface on this side of the park is much rougher. I wouldn't do it if I weren't on a mountain bike.

"Takane Ridge Road" in the "Rokudoyama Park"

I really should have taken a more representative picture of the road through this area. It's quite rocky and bumpy for a few miles. (ie, it's fun!)

This place is Rokudoyama (六道山) Observatory at Rokudoyama Park. There is a water fountain, a public restroom, and picnic tables in the park. You can climb to the top of the observatory for a great panorama. It wasn't clear enough to bother climbing up it today so I'll post some pics I took on a past trip.

March, 2021

Speaking of pictures I didn't take today . . . On a past trip, I stumbled on this spot which has a fantastic view of the runway at Yokota Air Base and I was able to watch C-130s landing and taking off. I had my binoculars with me that day, so it was really cool. The exact spot is here:

Overlooking Yokota Musashimurayama