Are you looking for a hiking destination in Japan? If your answer is YES, you are on the right post. Even if your answer is NO, please stay tune, this place might be your next hiking destination.
Today I would like to share my experience visiting one of my dream hiking trails, Oze National Park. I will start with the park information first. This park is one of the Hikers’ Dream Destinations, located about 150 kilometers north of Tokyo. Ozegahara Marshland and the Ozenuma Pond are the most famous spot of this national park. The best time to visit is in the late May to early June as you will see the blooming of White Skunk Cabbages. The late September to early October is also nice to visit for autumn colors. In summary, here is the season information of the area.
- Late May - early June : Blooming of White Skunk Cabbages
- Mid July - mid August : Blooming of Nikkokisuge
- Late September - early October : Autumn colors
- Early May : Snow Scenery
There are many trailheads that visitors can hike into the park. The trails are so well maintained and they are easy to walk. I planed to hike on a trail started at Hatomachitoge Trailhead as it is only 1 hour walk and it is the most popular among the trails.
I started at Takasaki Station and took the train to Numata Station (50 minutes). It was in early June 2017 and the weather in Takasaki city was quite right, not too hot, not too cold. Then I catched a bus to Tokura Bus Terminal, this took 1 hour and a half to get there. About 15 minutes before the last stop, the driver asked passengers in Japanese then all of the passengers raised their hands. I didn’t understand Japanese at all, so I said “Hatomachitoge” to the passenger next to me and she nodded, then I raised my hand too and the driver counted me in, I was relieved then.
At the last stop, I bought the shuttle bus ticket to Hatomachitoge Trailhead. I asked the ticket officers about the bus schedule to go back to Numata Station. Unfortunately they didn’t understand English at all, OH MY GOD, what if I miss the bus back! So I showed them all the information I brought and I used body language as best as I can. Finally they got me and gave me the bus timetable and explained which one is the last bus to Numata Station. PHEW…
Not yet! I was the last person in the queue to ride the shuttle bus and one shuttle bus came. Visitors just lined up to board the shuttle bus one by one, everything seemed OK until I found out that there were not enough seats for the last person in the queue, that’s ME, so I was left behind. OH GOSH! One of the ticket officers tried to calm me using his body language and he said “shot to ma te” many times. I knew that it means “Just a Second” but I thought there was no more shuttle bus to the trailhead. He then made a phone call for another shuttle bus to pick me up and about 5 minutes one came and I was on. Can you imagine my 5 minutes in that situation? It was like 50 minutes long to me.
After 20 minutes on the shuttle bus, I arrived the trailhead. First thing I felt when I got off the shuttle bus, it was so freezing and wet. So I went into the information center to warm myself as I didn’t prepare for the weather this cold, freezing actually. Outside, all hikers were taking out the clothes they brough and wearing them and getting ready to walk. Me? … deciding whether “I’m gonna go for it or not”, it was too cold with my t-shirt and thin jacket, but since I traveled this far, “I will go for it”. Fortunately after walking for 10 minutes, I was getting warm and more comfortable.
It took me 1 hour and a half to reach the Ozeyamanohana Visitor Center as the boardwalks were so wet and slipperly from the melting snow, so I walked like a turtle. But I really enjoyed walking in these 2 hours as you can see that the White Skunk Cabbages were in full bloom in my photos, the scenery was so amazing, the walk was so easy on the nice maintained path. I spent almost 2 hours admiring the nature and then I had some refreshments at the visitor center before walking back and went back to Takasaki Station. This route back, it was smooth as silk and there was no problem at all, yahoo. 
I don’t know how to explain about the park’s picturesque scenery, so I will let my photos say about it for you all. Many surprises happened on this day trip to Oze National Park, but the nice memory of visiting there is still on my mind. If I have a chance to visit it again, I would go for Oshimizu Trailhead to see the Ozenuma Pond. And of course, this time I will be well prepared for the trip and hopefully there will be no surprise at all. I hope you enjoy reading my story and also enjoy viewing the photos. Thank you so much for clicking on this post and reading it until you are here.
Do you have any comment, story, hiking destination to share with us? Please leave some in the comment section below, I would love to read them.
