Hiking to View the Autumn Leaves of Kurobe Gorge

Route Guide

From the last stop of the railway, Keyaki-daira station, the Baba-dani hot spring which is located at the junction of the Baba-chichi river, is reached in an hour by walking on a promenade in the direction of the upstream of the Baba-dani river, which is a branch of the Kurobe river. On the way, you will pass “Okukane bridge,” a symbolic red bridge of Keyaki-daira, “Hitokui-iwa,”a rock which looks as if it is swallowing a human being, and the elegant “Meiken hot spring”.
The name Baba-dani is based on a story where a wife who was jealous of her husband chased him to Shinshu but died at the gorge on her way and her obsession turned to hot water and blew out. Many hikers to Mt. Shirouma-dake and Mt. Karamatsu-dake visit here as a trailhead to those mountains and its name is well known as a hidden hot spring deep in the Kurobe mountains. “Baba-dani jigoku,” which is “blowing out hot spring,” is located near Baba-dani hot spring and white smoke can be spotted on the riverside. At Keyaki-daira, a starting point to Baba-dani hot spring, there are many sightseeing spots such as “Keyaki-daira visitor center”, which presents the nature of Kurobe, “Kawara observation platform”, where you can view Okukane bridge while enjoying a foot bath, or “Sarutobikyo”, which is a national special nature monument/special landscape.