Narukokyo Gorge

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Narukokyogorgeautumn colourNarukoOfukazawa bridge

Photo: Own work / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · original

Narukokyo Gorge rewards patience — the view most people describe isn't the one you get by rushing.

The Otani river has cut a gorge about a hundred metres deep through the volcanic rock west of Naruko Onsen, and the sides are near-vertical with trees growing out of every ledge. It is a prefectural Place of Scenic Beauty within the Kurikoma Quasi-National Park, and in the last week of October it is one of the best-known autumn sites in Tohoku.

The view everybody photographs is from the Ofukazawa bridge, an arch across the gorge with the whole cut visible below it. There is a rest house with a viewing deck, a walking path along the rim, and — during the colour, when the traffic is at its worst — a shuttle arrangement and charged parking. Outside those weeks it is quiet and free, and the gorge is just as deep.

Before you go

Access hours

Open access | Rest house keeps its own hours

Closed: Open year-round | Access affected by snow in winter

Entry fee

Free outside autumn | Parking around ¥500 per car during the autumn colour period

Best time to visit

Late October–early November for autumn colour

Time to allow

60–90 minutes

Access route

Directions

Naruko-onsen Hoshinuma, Osaki, west of Naruko Onsen. By car from Naruko-onsen Station on the JR Rikuu-Tosen Line, or from Furukawa IC. Free to visit outside the autumn season; during the colour period from around early October to mid-November parking is charged at about ¥500 for a car, ¥200 for a motorcycle, ¥1,000 for a medium vehicle and ¥1,500 for a large one, with about 250 spaces. The Ofukazawa bridge is the main viewpoint and a rest house with a viewing deck stands above the gorge. Autumn colour peaks from late October to early November.

What to bring

**Parking is charged only in autumn.** Roughly ¥500 for a car from early October to mid-November, free the rest of the year. **The Ofukazawa bridge is the shot.** The arch across the gorge with the cut below it. It is signed and it is where everybody stands. **Late October to early November.** The peak is short and the road congests badly. A weekday morning is a completely different experience. **Go outside the season too.** Fresh green in May, snow in winter, and the gorge is the same hundred metres deep with nobody there. **Combine with Katanuma and a bath.** Naruko Onsen has nine of Japan's eleven spring types between its villages, and the gorge and the lake are both minutes away.

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