Mount Tarumae

Seen from Shikotsuko Onsen, the summit of Tarumae looks like someone set a huge pudding on top of the mountain. That shape is a lava dome pushed up in the eruption of April 1909, now 134 m high with about 20 million cubic metres of rock, and a Hokkaido natural monument. Getting close is easier than on almost any other volcano in the region. A road climbs to the 7th-station car park, about 20 minutes' drive from Shikotsuko Onsen, and from there the path reaches Higashiyama, the 1,022 m high point of the outer rim, in about 50 minutes, with 30 minutes for the way down. Wind on the rim is constant, and on calm days you can watch several plumes of steam drifting off the dome. The crater floor is hot and gives off toxic gas, so it is closed, and you cannot walk to the 1,041 m top of the dome. The path is loose volcanic gravel that rolls under your boots; people slip on the descent more than on the climb. From early summer, iwabukuro, a purple flower locals call tarumaiso, grows between the stones. For a longer day, Mount Fuppushi (1,103 m) next door takes about 2 hours 50 minutes up from the flower-garden trail opposite the hut.