Mikumarikyou Gorge

A nice walk with varied scenery, great views, a few shrines, a good area to have a picnic and a hot spring close by in a park that never seems to get very busy. It is so peaceful, it's hard to imagine the Diamond City shopping mall is only 10 minutes away. Access You can get to the start of this walk either by bicycle, bus or car. By bicycle (from Diamond City) you follow Route 84 for Kaita until you see a sign for Mikumarikyo on your left. Turn left, go through one set of traffic lights and turn right at the next set. By bus take bus Number 2-2 for Fuchu Yamada from Kenchoumae, Hachobori or Hiroshima Station. (20 mins from Kenchoumae)

The Walk

So you get off the bus at Yamada 2 Choume. Ahead on your left is a small Yamazaki shop. This is your last chance to buy any food, but to be honest they don't have much of a choice so I recommend you buy in advance.

From the bus stop take the first road on the left. You will see some yellow signs for some kind of park. Keep the small river to your right and follow the road. You'll get to a small bridge and see a purple house on the left, hang right. Keep walking through the residential area and eventually you'll come to a few detached houses.

Follow the road up the hill, keeping the stream down below to your right. It winds up the mountain. You'll pass a series of mini dams on your right until you get to a break in the road. Keep going left, passing an abandoned corrugated iron hut. Continue past a new graveyard (on your right), and the road soon starts to level out. When you arrive at a parking area, you'll see a green gate. The gate is closed, but pedestrians can get through. Here you can see a great view of Hiroshima and the Inland sea From here you will start descending. 5 minutes on there is a picnic area with more good views over the city, and toilets too. You are now in Mikumarikyou Gorge. I recommend you have a drink stop here.

From the picnic area descend down the road. As you descend you have a great view of the mountains. At the next break in the road, follow the road to the left. You will notice that there are other trails, I have yet to discover where they lead. Finally you'll get to a nice and shady spot with a rest hut next to a pond. Keep descending and you'll finally get to the actual gorge (not quite Sandankyo though!).

Cross the stream and keep descending. When you cross the next stream you will see a big wooden hut ahead of you. This is the day camp area, plenty of space to play ball games. I advise you to take the footpath to the right, cross two bridges. Here start the shrines. Here there are also picnic tables and somewhere for children to play.

Cross a narrow bridge, over some stones and follow the path. You will notice there is a path on the right. This takes you up a steep path to another shrine and drops down to pick up the path the other side. Follow the path, pass some more shrines (photos 13a-13b) until you see a wooden bridge ahead. Spend sometime here watching the carp, taking in the scenery or listening to the automated voice constantly reminding you not to drop litter! If you cross the bridge and follow the path you'll get to the rest hut. Here there are toilets. Go out the car park turn left descending down the road. You'll finally get to a break in the road, there is a bus turning point. If you want to go to the hot spring follow the road to the right and you'll see Mikumari Onsen. Entry is ¥525, this includes towels and soap. There are 3 saunas, 2 baths, 3 jet baths and an outside bath. As you come out of the building go around the left side of the building (right side if you're facing the building) and you will pick up the road, go right down the hill and descend down the hill, passing several small bridges until you get to some traffic lights. For those who don't want to go to the hot spring, at the bus turning point, take the road to the left and descend down the hill, passing several bridges until you get to some traffic lights.

At the traffic lights go left and cross over the road immediately. You should see the bus stop Mikumari Iriguchi. This takes you back to the city (via Diamond City).

Books at amazon.com Hiking in Japan: An Adventurer's Guide.. Lonely Planet Hiking in Japan Lonely Planet Japan

Click here for more hikes