Every Season Brings a Different Charm on Tsugaike Mountain

Enjoy a range of activities year-round in a fabulous alpine setting on Tsugaike Mountain

Tsugaike is one of Japan’s premier winter sports destinations, but there is plenty to enjoy every season. The Tsugaike Ropeway provides easy access to an altitude of 1,900 meters. Up in this magical snow-covered world, you can do activities like backcountry skiing and snowshoeing in the spring. In June, Tsugaike Nature Park opens, where you can see distinctive local flora like the skunk cabbage and the skeleton flower. June also sees the opening of Hakuba Tsugaike WOW, an outdoor activity park with attractions that include wall-climbing, tube-sliding and floating on ponds fed by snow melt.

When summer comes, Tsugaike Nature Park is aglow with colorful alpine flowers and swaying cotton grass. Hiking enthusiasts can trek all the way around the park’s four wetlands in three and a half to four hours. A highlight of the trek is the observation deck with its spectacular panorama over the Hakuba Daisekkei, one of Japan’s three largest snowfields, and the three peaks of the Hakuba Sanzan mountain range. 
 

When autumn comes (which happens earlier than normal at this sort of altitude), the sight of the changing of the leaves against the majestic mountain backdrop makes the hike through Tsugaike Nature Park even more magical. 

Access: From Tokyo Station, take the bullet train to Nagano Station (approx. one hour and 30 minutes); from Nagano Station, take a bus to Tsugaike Kogen (approx. one hour and 30 minutes).
 

Tsugaike Mountain Resort