Jyouyama 城山 Kanayama 金山 Kodaijisan 孔大寺山 Munakata 宗像市 Hiking 2019.8.17
This is a wonderful hike in Munakata in Fukuoka. I originally planned on hiking all four mountains however due to a lack of water I had to stop after the third one. I will be back again to hike Yugawayama (湯川山) at a later date. For now this hike covers the first three mountains. After Kanayama the mountains started to get much tougher and as I was the first (Only?) person hiking that far on the day I kept walking into spiderwebs or stirring up the horse flies.
Access: Take the JR Kagoshima line to JR Kyoikudai-Mae station (教育大前駅). From there head up to the hiking start point that is on a small road behind the University 城山登山口. From here the hike is well signposted in Japanese all the way across the mountain ridge.
Gear: There is a freshwater spring right at the start but I did not come across any water (Streams, springs etc) at all in the mountains. So take plenty of water especially if hiking in summer. I had 1.5L but really I needed at least another 500ml to finish all four mountains. Hiking shoes or boots are recommended as some of the descents can be very slippery. Gloves alo would be useful as there are a number of ropes and having a pair of gloves will protect you from rope burns.
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The hike starts simply enough. Following the road around to the start point and then walking up many wooden steps.
It's a very pleasant walk though and there are many of old and interesting trees on the way up Jyouyama.
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There were plenty of benches and rest points on the way up.
There were a lot of other people hiking up so the first part of the hike wasn't lonely.
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The view from the Summit of Jyouyama is impressive. There is also a wooden hut with photos of various species of wildlife and Fungi that have been found on the mountain.
There are also benches everywhere and a small monument.
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The hike continues just to the right of the main viewing point. The signpost points you in the direction and reports that the distance of all four mountains in 10.4km.
Each mountain is very separate which means you need to go fully fully down and fully up again to reach each. Next up was Kanayama 金山.
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Kanayama has a smaller summit with the view almost completely obscured by trees and vegetation.
So I decided to take a short rest and head on to the third mountain. This was the longest part of the hike and as I was the first person hiking I hit many spider webs directly in my face.
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| A very beautiful area of the hike. The trees have been cleared away and the view is fantastic. |
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The forest changed and became a bamboo forest just before reaching the road before the final climb of the day.
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The third mountain Kodaijisan 孔大寺山. The climb to reach it was tough and very steep in places. The summit was nice enough but again lacked any real view. I sat here and had a little lunch before carrying on.
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There is this historical on the way. Not exactly sure of it's significance. The information board nearby is below.
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The final part of the descent was difficult. Lots of ropes and very slippy and steep areas. I needed my gloves but not before getting a friction burn from the ropes.
I went down a small wooden set of steps and excited the mountain. The final peak was in front of me but I had no more water left so andonded the hike at this point.
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There is a small reservoir near base of the mountains. I considered asking for some water at a nearby house but there was nobody home. I decided to walk back into Munakata to get a drink at catch a bus back to Togo station. The walk was nice and had some good views of the mountains.
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It wasn't long before I found a Nishitetsu bus stop. I travelled back to JR Togo 東郷駅 station and then went to Fukko-Daimae Station 福工大前駅. I decided to visit Fukunoyu at there Singu branch, A very nice and new Onsen. It was great and nice to wash the sweat and cobwebbs off before relaxing in the many baths they have there.
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