Mt. Ena-san

This mountain is categorized as the first triangulation mountain, however, the view from the summit is covered by spruce and kome-tsuga and not widely open.  The North and South Alps and Mt. Fuji-yama can be spotted from the back of Sancho-koya Mountain hut, located at the summit.  There are many coniferous forests such as cypress or fir these days, however, there used to be cypres or fir in the Edo era.  Walter Weston climbed the summit on May 11^th, 1893 (Meiji 26) and that made this mountain known globally.  On May 11^th every year, the Weston festival has been held by Nakatsugawa city sightseeing association to celebrate his achievement.  There are three courses, one from Hirogawara to a ridgeline, one from Misaka pass to the prefecture borderline between Nagano and Gifu, and the other from Kuroi-sawa via the logging road.  One from Hirogawara and another from Kuroi-sawa will be introduced here.  It is recommended that you visit this mountain in your own car because public transportation takes a long time to get there.  The starting point for both routes is the parking lot at the bottom of the mountain.