A day-one route of a bicycle trip going by the circle, enjoying the Nikko Kinugawa area with 1 night and 2 night staying at Kinugawa Onsen.
From Tobu Nikko Line / Kinjo gakuen line, Kozaichi station departing from the center of Nikko, go through Iroha Zaka, go to Chuzenji Lake, cross the Sanno Pass, go down to Kawamata Onsen and go through several dams along the Kinugawa River It goes down to Kinugawa Onsen after going through Kawasa Onsen and Dragon Strait.
If you run in sunlight, Nikko Suginami leaves emotions of ancient pilgrimage road, you want to keep running. If you are traveling with the Tobu Nikko Line, starting from Komichi station, you can quickly enter Nikko Cedar Wood with minimal travel in urban areas with a lot of traffic.
After passing the shopping street from the Nikko station, if you see the red Kamihashi on your left, turn right at the intersection and head towards Toshogu from the back street with few tourists.
After that, I ran on the Japanese romantic road, past the public restroom of horseback, it is the beginning of Iroha Saka.
Iroha – zaka is a one – way climb up and down. In climbing, 20 curves from “i” to “ne” will appear between Aki Pingi before Lake Chuzenji. It is recommended to take a break with halfway black hair and watch the scenery. The climb of Irohazaka is about 7.4 km in distance and acquired about 420 m in altitude. The slope is not so tight, the average slope is around 5 to 6%. Because the lane is also a wide road of almost two lanes, it is surprisingly easy to run (.) It is easy to challenge Nagasaka. However, consecutive holidays and autumn leaves are very crowded, so be careful.
It is nearly flat on the banks of Lake Chuzenji and Senjogahara. After leaving the Romantic Road and entering the Gokuu Ranch Festival, authentic Hill Climb will begin and finally climb the quiet forest road to Sanno Pass.
From Sanno Pass to Kawamata Onsen, it is a long long downhill that lasts about 16 km. Since there are many hairpin curves with a steep slope, let’s get off while taking a break so that your concentration will not be interrupted. At Kawamata Onsen, you may be able to see a geyser blowing up if you are lucky.
From here, comfortable cycling with the flat / descending keynote while enjoying the beautiful scenery along the Kinugawa River. If you have time, it would be a good idea to visit the Ryu – kyo Gorge before the goal.
After passing Kinugawa Park Station, pass the bridge over the Kinugawa River away from the national highway and go to the goal while feeling the hot spring feeling. On this day, we stayed at a cyclist welcome hot spring inn, Kinugawa Park Hotels. Let’s heal from the hot springs and take a good rest.
Nikko Suginami (Suginami Tree of Nikko Highway) is an unpaved road running parallel to the national highway. That is why I strongly leave the emotions of ancient pilgrimage.
The autumn tints around Nikko Toshogu Shrine are best seen in the first half of November. The scenery full of emotion is in front of the eyes when turning around the back road.
At the climb of Iroha – zaka, signs are set up in 20 curves from “い” to “ね”.
The mountain forest road (Okuni Supermarket road) climbing through the pleasant sunlight through the sun is highlight of the day.
At the Kawamata Onsen where you have gone down, you may be able to see a geyser blowing up if you are lucky.
Along the beautiful clear stream upstream of the Kinugawa River flowing meandering, we run a gentle descent comfortably.