Trail Course
A Two-night-three-day Walking Trip Using Three Local Railroads and Walking through a Japanese “Satoyama”
“Narakoko-Myogashima Trail”
There is a trail where you start from the Kakegawa Station. The name of the trail is “Narakoko – Myogashima Trail.” The climate in Shizuoka is so mild that it does not snow so much even in winter. The best seasons of trail hiking are spring and autumn. Let’s sling a tent over your shoulders and get on a train for this two-night trekking trip!
Trip to Walk through Japanese Farms, Vegetable Fields and Rice Fields, and Cultivated “Satoyama (undeveloped woodland near populated area)”
Spring and autumn are the best to hike.
Getting off Shinkansen Train, get on a local railroad called “Tokaido Honsen.” Head to the “Kanaya Station,” two stops from Kakegawa. Once arriving at the Kanaya Station, change the train to “Oigawa Railway.” The train runs along green tea plantations and private houses and takes you to more local regions. Get off at the station called “Fukuyo,” six stops from the Kanaya Station. You will get there in about an hour from the Kakegawa Station.
Now, let’s take a picture in front of this small station building of Fukuyo and start hiking. You just keep walking through green tea plantations and start going up a mountain of cedar trees. The well-kept forests are inherited fortune of local people over years. From here, let’s head to the “Mt. Hakko.”
Mt. Hakko is 810 meters high. It takes over two hours from Fukuyo Station (122 meters above sea level) on foot. Once reaching the top of Mt. Hakko, the highest mountain in the city of Kakegawa, walk down to the “Narakoko-no-sato Camp Site” where you spend your first night. At Narakoko-no-sato Camp Site (181 meters above sea level) opens all year and has tent sites and lodges. You can even enjoy “Onsen (hot springs).” There, you can relax and heal your tiredness.
(NOTE: In winter, you have to end your trail hiking and go back to Kakegawa Station by bus since “Sumiyaki-no-mori Myogashima Camp Site” is closed during winter.)
On Day 2, you start from “Narakoko-no-sato” and head to Sumiyaki-no-mori Myogashima Camp Site. Climb up “Mt. Obi (670 meters above sea level)” to Myogashima Camp Site. You can stay either at a tent or a cottage. You can even use a shower. This no-cellphone-service area is so quiet that many camp lovers all over Japan visit this secret spot.
On Day 3, head to your last local railroad station, the“Harada Station” from Myogashima Camp Site. Climb up the mountain and walk through “Satoyama” as watching local people doing their farming chores. Colorful flowers may welcome you in spring. After hours of hiking through the mountain and “Satoyama,” flat lands will open up to you. That’s where you can reach your final checking point of the trail hiking, “Harada Station” of the “Tenryu Hamanako Line.” While waiting for a train which only stops at this station every twenty or thirty minutes, please heal your tired legs. The tiny one-car local train will take you back to the “Kakegawa Station” where you started your trip.
A “Satoyama” trail hiking which you can draw your trail with one line (unicursally) – that’s the “Narakoko-Myogashima Trail.”
