Sandankyo Gorge

Sandankyo runs about 16 km along the Shibaki River and was made a Special Place of Scenic Beauty in 1953. It is not a loop. The path follows the river in one line, so most people walk in from the Main Entrance and come back the same way. The classic short trip is 2.7 km, about 50 minutes each way, to Kurobuchi, a deep green pool where a boatman ferries you across (300 yen one way, 500 yen return) to a teahouse that grills river fish. Farther up, Sarutobi is a cleft in the rock about 2 m wide. Since July 2026 you row yourself through it in a three-person rental boat (4,000 yen per boat for 30 minutes, 10:00 to 15:00, no booking) to Nidan-daki, an 11 m waterfall you cannot see from the trail; despite the name it has been a single drop since a 1988 flood. Operating days are not published, so ask the Osorakan Ecology Campsite, which runs the boats, before you go. The catch is closures. Rockfall and landslides shut sections for months, and in 2025 and 2026 the stretch between Sandan-daki and Shimo-Mochinoki was closed with no reopening date. Check the town's notices before you go.