Mostly Japanese Mountains: #gunma

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Culture Day on Mt. Arafune, one of Gunma's Famous 100 Mountains. Great Fall Foliage. 紅葉狩り

S'up?

. . . about Mt. Arafune (荒船山)

This is a way-cool mountain on the border of Nagano and Gunma Prefectures. It's deservedly listed as one of Japan's 200 Famous Mountains.

Area:

Like I said, it's on the border of Gunma and Nagano. From the Tomo Iwa--the large cliff at the north end, you can see the Northern Alps, Asama, Saitama, etc.

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 of this area.

Starting and stopping point:

Uchiyama Pass Arafune Trailhead Parking Lot

Beward of Bears

Bear Information kumamap **See notes on a picture later in this blogpost.

Peaks bagged: Arafune (荒船山)

(First-time) peaks # ---

Getting there/getting around:

Bicycle on this particular day. There is free parking at the trailhead. Usually, it's not anywhere near full. The parking lot was full this particular day, but people were able to park along the street.

The nearest train stations are Nakagomi, in Saku, or Shimonita in Gunma. I guess you could take a taxi from there.

Helpful Info

Weather Information:

Arafune Weather

Time and distance

YAMAP's Estimate Time: 5:22 Distance: 9

The Caveman did it in: Total Time: 2:52 Break time: :04 Distance: 8.9 km

Elevation: Lowest: 1,064 m Highest: 1,422 m Total Ascent: 675 m Total Descent: 675 m

The hike stats:

The bicycle stats:

I started out at an elevation of about 675 meters. The highest point I rode to is about 1,100 meters. Coming home is considerably faster than riding up there!

Technical considerations/difficulty:

Facilities:

There are a lot of ropes and chains. Some parts are on top of a narrow ridge that slopes away quite steeply on both sides. That said, there is nothing too spicy and none of the hike is above the tree line.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

Since this is my 3rd or 4th post, I'm not going to write too much. It should be obvious by now that I like this mountain.

Let's look at some pictures:

I've never seen more than one or two cars in the parking lot. They really came out for leaf-peeping on this national holiday.

I had no problem finding a parking space for my vehicle. Phew.

That's Tomo Iwa from the trail

Hasamiiwashugendojoato (鋏岩修験道場跡)

This rock is the remains of a training spot for mountain ascetism.

That pointy thing is the peak of Arafune

Remember I said I'd get back to bears?

These claw marks appear new. They may or may not be. I know from experience that these claw marks can still look new years after they were made.

That said, I do know there are bears in this area and that Kumamap doesn't record any incidents near here. I have a friend who works nearby at the Arafune Panorama Campground and every week I see him and he tells me of another sighting. (That campground is to the northwest of this spot.) I have also met locals people in the neighborhood to the south when mountain biking and they've told me there are bears in the area.

I don't live in fear of bears, but it is worth trying to beware.

FWIW, I took this picture when I was a bit off of the trail.

There is a long, level trail between Tomo Iwa and the peak of Arafune. This area has lots and lots of deer. Keep your camera handy when you walk through here.

I only saw two deer this particular day because there were so many hikers and the deer were hiding a bit.

The top of Arafune doesn't have much of a view and is a bit anticlimactic.

Peanut butter on banana bread. Oh, that hit the spot.

The top of Tomo Iwa (The cliff)

The field to the left center is the Arafune Panorama Campground. The mountain with the antenna is Mt. Monomi.

This map legend shows the mountains around the compass. It was with a bit of satisfaction that I realized I've climbed all but one or two.

Now, I'm back on the bicycle and heading home.

Near the trailhead for Mt. Kumakura, I turned left to head downhill.

A view of Mt. Asama on the last stretch.

Look at some more of Mt. Arafune in other seasons?

Arafune

Arafune again

and again

(Along with all the regular stuff such as maps, headlamps, boots, feet, and brains, . . .) don't forget:

to keep your camera handy when you walk along the top--and if you're with other people, don't talk and scare the deer away.

Before I say goodbye . . .

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Have you commented? (No, you haven't. Be honest.)

Super suteki Kusatsu Shirane. What a view of Yugama! 草津白根山、湯釜

Yugama

Kusatsu Shirane in Gunma

S'up?

I made a trip to Mt. Kusatsu Shirane the other day. It was great.

The last time I went to the area, I broke all sorts of rules, and probably the law. More on that later in the post so keep reading.

. . . about Mt. Kusatsu Shirane

Kusatsu Shirane is a really cool collection of peaks which make up a stratovolcano. It's one of the 100 Famous Mountains, but the highest peak, Motoshirane (本白根) is off-limits due to danger from the volcano. (I've climbed it. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone.)**

The road is only open from April to mid-November and most of the trails are closed because of the alert levels. Just today (October 13, 2026), and for the next few weeks only, the shortest trail is going to be opened on a trial basis. That trail leads to a platform overlooking the Yugama Lake (湯釜).

Those restrictions are already back in place as of October 20, 2026.*

This is an automatically translated story about the opening of the trail to that viewpoint. I think I'm happy enough to see it from where I did--and also that there were only 3 other people at the viewpoint I saw it from!

*About the return of restrictions. I think you probably can still go the spot I went to. The restricted place is a different viewpoint accessed from a different parking lot.

**OK, I'll tell you now. I came across some Japanese person's hiking report of Mt. Motoshirane, which is one of the peaks on Kusatsu Shirane. I think that is the peak Yuya Fukada was thinking of when he included Kusatsu Shirane on his list of 100 Famous Mountains. I thought it looked cool and decided to copy his plan. It was one of the most spectacular hikes of my life. I hiked it in the snow on a gorgeous, clear day and had the mountains all to myself. When I posted my report on YAMAP, the YAMAP people went crazy and even Tsumagoi's village people got really big mad at me. (I can call them village people because the municipality of Tsumagoi is indeed a village. Hee hee.) I had no idea that all the places I went were off-limits or that the locals take that very seriously. I just thought I was alone because it was a weekday. Anyway, you can see that report here. It is another in a long list of things I have done in the mountains that I wouldn't do again--but boy, I am really glad I did!