Mt. Nagiso dake hiking & climbing route

Route Guide

From the Ogoshi bus stop, exit onto the national highway and follow the gentle paved road.
You will see Choenji, a temple with a large hanging bell, on your left. Follow the road in front of the temple towards the mountain. After walking along the forest road for about 50-60 minutes, you will see Araragi campsite on your right. This historic campground is very crowded on weekends, and more and more people are staying in tents even during the cold months. If you continue along the forest road past Araragi mountain villa on your right, you will arrive at the climber's parking lot with a shelter in about 30-40 minutes. Cars can enter this parking lot.

There is also a restroom, but if you have not yet registered your climbing permit, please submit it here, and from here you will begin climbing Mt. Nagiso. After walking through the forest for a while, you will cross a forest road and reach the Araragi trailhead. After walking on the forest road for another 30 minutes, you will come to a fork in the mountain descending path. The route time is 50 minutes, but you may arrive a little earlier. Proceed to the left side of the mountain trail, and after passing the Throat Falls, the steep ascent begins. There are chains, but there are also
wooden ladders so you don't have to worry too much about them. Pass through the Koya pine forest and arrive at the rocky area at the core of Mt. Nagiso climbing. You can also climb up from the climbing area, but there is a detour route using a wooden ladder on the right. There are steep climb up ladders and stairs, but after about 30 minutes you will reach a place where you can see Kabuto Rock and Marishiten. If you go a little further from here, you'll reach the top of the mountain.

The summit is surrounded by forest and you won't be able to see any views, but don't worry. After walking for about 50 meters, you will come upon the first observation deck on the left: the west terrace, and within a further 20 minutes' walk there is a shelter, and above that is a large observation deck that opens to the north and west.
The view from Mt. Ontake is spectacular, but most of all, this is the place where you can see almost all of the Central Alps mountain range, and there is no other place where you can see the Central Alps mountain range in front of your eyes at this close distance. It's easy to see why this mountain is loved.

To descend the mountain, proceed clockwise along the one-way trail. In about 20 minutes, you will pass what appears to be the peak on the east side, and soon after that, you will arrive at a large rock observation deck called Marishiten, just off the mountain trail. It is a great place to climb a rock that is as high as an adult man's chest and get a great view of Mt. Ena in front of you and the Southern Alps to the east but you need to be very brave and careful because it is the daunting tip of the rock that can make you lose your footing.

From here it is a steep descent, and about 100 m down there is another similar rock observation platform, but after that it is a steep descent through the forest. As you descend, you will begin to understand why they chose to go clockwise on a one-way street. ``I don't want to use this for climbing!'' The answer (maybe) is a road that descends continuously on a steep slope. The continuous steep descent up to this point is quite a descent route even though the Alps are wide. Although I was tired, I returned to the confluence point after about 1 hour and 30 minutes from Marishiten. From here, follow the same path as the mountain trail to the Araragi trailhead, or go further down from the trailhead and return to the Ogoshi bus stop.