Tsukechi Gorge

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

Researched and written by Hinato

Tsukechi GorgeFudo FallsgraniteNakatsugawaautumn colour

Photo: Bariston / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · original

What sets Tsukechi Gorge apart from other natural sites in Gifu is how much depends on conditions outside anyone's control.

The Tsukechi river runs off the Kiso mountains over a granite bed, and where it cuts through the gorge the water is a green so saturated that photographs of it are routinely assumed to be edited. The riverbed is visible the whole way down.

Three places are worth stopping. Semebashi and Hontanibashi are bridges looking up and down the gorge, and Fudo Park has a walking circuit past Fudo Falls with maples over it. There are 125 free parking spaces across the three — a hundred at Fudo Park, ten at Hontanibashi, fifteen at Semebashi. It is about fifty minutes from Nakatsugawa IC up Route 257, and the colour peaks in the first half of November. By bus it is fifty minutes and then a walk of an hour or more, so this is a driving destination.

Plan your visit

Time to allow

2–3 hours

Hours

Open access | Daylight only

Closed: Open year-round | Mountain road affected by winter conditions

Best time to visit

Early–mid November for autumn colour | Summer for the water

Entry fee

Free | Free parking, 125 spaces

Finding your way there

Directions

Tsukechi-cho, Nakatsugawa, in the Kiso mountains. By car from Nakatsugawa IC on the Chuo Expressway via Route 257. Free parking totalling 125 spaces — 100 at Fudo Park, 10 at Hontanibashi and 15 at Semebashi. The Fudo Park walking circuit passes Fudo Falls. By public transport, take the bus toward Tsukechikyo Kurayaonsen from JR Nakatsugawa Station, about 50 minutes, then walk 1–1.5 hours. Autumn colour runs to around mid-November.

Beyond the guidebook

**Three stops, not one.** Semebashi and Hontanibashi for the views up and down the gorge, Fudo Park for the falls and the walking circuit. Doing only one misses most of it. **The water colour needs light.** The green depends on seeing through to the granite bed, so bright conditions beat overcast, and rain will spoil it for days. **Early to mid-November for the maples.** Colour at Fudo Park holds to around the middle of the month, later than the mountains above. **Drive.** The bus takes fifty minutes and leaves an hour or more of walking at the far end. This is not realistically a public transport trip. **All the parking is free.** 125 spaces across the three points, which on a November weekend is still not many.

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