Ryuozan rainy season hike 龍王山

Ryuozan rainy season hike 龍王山

Rainy season hike up Ryuozan 龍王山 (Dragon king mountain) The name comes from a local legend that a dragon sleeps beneath it!. I started the hike from Chikuzen-Daibu station 筑前大分駅 which is about 30 minutes from Hakata. You can use IC cards on this line however most of the smaller stations are unmanned most of the time. There is a lengthy walk from the station through farms and countryside before you reach the main mountain trail head. The top of the mountain has good views of the area and is treeless. The route I took down first had me following a rocky mountain stream and them walking on the road for a significant amount of time. Luckily there are plenty of short cuts that save a lot of distance and time eventually rejoining the road. From there it was a short distance to Nanzoin where I went to view the impressive stone Buddha and came back to Kidonanzoin-mae station 城戸南蔵院前駅. As always click on the title to go to the Yamap site to see the route map and details. 

Togamidake 砥上岳

Togamidake 砥上岳

I visited Togamidake a few weeks ago as part of a long trail run. However I felt that it deserved more attention as it had a great view from the summit and the forest surrounding it had a great atmosphere. For this hike we started at Togami Shrine 砥上神社 were there is a good amount of free parking and followed the hiking route around the road to get a full sense of the mountain. As usual click on title to see the route and map. 

Mt. Aso hiking in Kumamoto: The nearby peaks of Eboshidake, Kishimadake and Komatateyama 杵島岳, 烏帽子岳, 駒立山

Mt. Aso hiking in Kumamoto: The nearby peaks of Eboshidake, Kishimadake and Komatateyama 杵島岳, 烏帽子岳, 駒立山

Aso-san 阿蘇山 is the largest active volcano in Japan but it is also one of the biggest in the world! Right now the warning level prohibits access to the main crater (Yes you are often able to go right up to the crater and look inside! But check the warning level before planning to do that ) so hiking routes around Naka-dake and Taka-dake are not possible. To enjoy the wonderful scenery of Mt. Aso we hiked around the nearby peaks of Kishimadake and Eboshidake which provide wonderful views of the main crater and the surrounding scenery of Kumamoto. 

As usual click on the heading to the see the course route and go to the Yamap site. 
We also went to a nearby river valley called the Kikuchi gorge 菊池渓谷 which is easily accessable by car. Here we went on a short 3km walk up around the mountain river and enjoyed views of the raging waterfalls and blue clear water. 

Trail running course: Togamidake, Onechiyama and Homanzan 砥上岳 大根地山 宝満山

Trail running course: Togamidake, Onechiyama and Homanzan 砥上岳 大根地山 宝満山

This was a fantastic course which covers some of the most interesting mountains in the area with plenty of variety of terrain. I used the Onechiyama map as a base point on yamap (You can download my trajectory from the app itself and use my exact route!). I started from Chikuzen-Yamae station 筑前山家駅 (No IC cards so get a ticket instead) and first went up Togamidake, then followed a steep route down to connect to a small road which lead me up to Onechiyama. From Onechiyama I ran down to a river park which has toilets and vending machines and then ran over the fields to start my climb of Homanzan. I came up near the camp centre past a natural spring which was useful to refill my water bottles. Then I went to the peak and ran down the main Homan route back to Dazaifu station 太宰府駅. Click on the title above to see the route and full Yamap post. 

Kurume hiking: Myojozan and Shirakaneyama 明星山 白金山 向耳納

Kurume hiking: Myojozan and Shirakaneyama 明星山 白金山 向耳納

A family hike to Kurume. We started at the Ichinose river park and hiked up to Myojozan first (It has a tree swing!) and then went over to Shirakaneyama. Both were great mountains to get to. Shirakaneyama strangely had a lot of random stuff there! Click on the title to go to the yamp link!

Munakata Trail run: Konomiyama 許斐山 尾立山 千歩山

Munakata Trail run: Konomiyama 許斐山 尾立山 千歩山

Almost there for my trail runs and hikes in Munakata. I will be heading there again soonish to return to Oshima the island just off the Munakata coast. This hike is a short and sweet. I started out from Togo station and ran down to the start of the trail. I then ran over the three mountains (there is minimal climbing to do) and then back through the countryside to Higashi-Fukuma station. Click on the title to see the trail map! 

Munakata hiking: Joyama and Yukawayama! 城山 湯川山

Munakata hiking: Joyama and Yukawayama! 城山 湯川山

I was defeated last year doing this hike. It is fairly long with a lot of climbing involved. I started from Kyoikudai-Mae station and ended at the bus stop just at the end of trail. Buses go to Togo station or Akama station from here and they are fairly regular. I hiked by Joyama and finally made it to Yukawayama go get views of the sea and the island off the coast. Click on title to see the Yamap trail map!

Aburayama the long course! 片江山,妙見山, 油山,糠塚山, 片縄山

Aburayama the long course! 片江山,妙見山, 油山,糠塚山, 片縄山

Starting from Umebayashi subway station and hiking all the way to Nakagawa and eventually back to Onojo. I don't recommend people follow in my footsteps for the final part of this hike, instead you could take a short shinkansen from Hakata-Minami Shinkansen station. Click on the title to go to the yamap course map! 

Miyajisan in Munkata! 宮地山, 在自山, 対馬見山, 水落山

Miyajisan in Munkata! 宮地山, 在自山, 対馬見山, 水落山

A slightly different format going forward; I use Yamap now for all of my hikes. A lot of hikes are repeat hike and therefore not worth posting on here however you can view everything since Dec 2019 on my user page. So from now on I willl include a few photos some notes on access and a link to the course trail and yamap post. Click the title to get to the yamap post. 

This hike is a wonderful short hikes in Munakata city in Fukuoka. I took the train to Fukuma sta. and walked to Miyadake Shrine to start the course. The shrine itself is wonderful and the hike is a great mix of small community mountain and also two very different wild mountains. Enjoy!