Mostly Japanese Mountains: Caveman Conquers Kansai. Mt. Odaigahara in Mie/Nara.

. . . about Mt. Odaigahara

This is a mountain on the Kii Peninsula on the prefectural boundary of Mie and Nara in the beautiful Yoshino Kumano National Park. It is also known as Hidegatake or Hinodegatake which means Sunrise Peak. As it is a high point just a few miles from the ocean, the panoramic views are spectacular. It is listed on Kyuya Fukada's list of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains. Since the parking lot is so high, the walk to the top is not challenging. It's a really special mountain.

Area:

Location:

Map: ***If you want a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map, comment and I'll get you a link. This link is to a printable topo map: Odaigahara Map

Starting and stopping point:

Visitor's Center Parking Lot

Peaks bagged: Odaigahara, AKA Hidegatake, AKA Hinodegatake 大台ケ原, (AKA日出ヶ岳)

(First-time) peaks #969

100 Famous Mountains #44

Getting there/getting around:

I drove. The Visitor's Center has a giant parking lot. Even so, cars overflowed onto the access road. There is bus service. Sorry, the bus info from Narakotsu seems to be only in Japanese.

Helpful Info

General Useful Information for Nara

Travel guide link

Yoshino Kumano National Park

Weather Information:

It's good to keep an eye on the weather and to be prepared for rain. I am told this mountain gets the most rain in Japan. Tenkura Weather Forecast

Time and distance

Total Time: 1:51 Break time: :03 Distance: 6.1 km

Elevation: Lowest: 1,539 m Highest: 1,695 m Total Ascent: 266 m Total Descent: 266 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:

Really none except for the chance of rain or of getting wet feet from crossing a few streams. The trail is very well maintained. It is mostly rocks with long stretches of boardwalk.

Facilities:

The area around the parking lot has a visitor's center, free pay toilets, a hotel, souvenirs and a restaurant.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

Another Japanese gem.

If I lived in the area, I would try to catch the sunrise from here sometime. I shudder to think how crowded it must be for the first sunrise of the year, though.

This hike was part of a roadtrip I made to the Yoshino Kumano Park. I hiked another of the 100 Famous Mountains in the morning before I went to Odaigahara. Watch that video here.