Daisetsuzan National Park

Daisetsuzan covers a plateau of volcanoes, alpine tundra and hot springs in the middle of Hokkaido, and it is the largest national park in Japan by area. The Ainu name for the range translates roughly as the playground of the gods, and the scale fits: ridges of bare volcanic rock, snow patches that survive the summer, and a plateau of dwarf pine and alpine flowers that hikers cross for days without meeting a road. Asahidake, the highest point in Hokkaido at 2,291 metres, is reached by ropeway to a boardwalk loop past steaming vents. On the northern side, Sounkyo cuts a gorge of columnar cliffs with two roadside waterfalls. Autumn colour arrives here in mid September, earlier than anywhere else in the country.

What you actually see

• Asahidake ropeway - a boardwalk loop past steaming vents below the highest peak in Hokkaido.
• Sounkyo Gorge - columnar basalt cliffs with the Ginga and Ryusei waterfalls beside the road.
• The central traverse - a multi-day hut and tent route across the high plateau.
• Early autumn colour - alpine slopes turning red and gold from the middle of September.

When to go

Trails on the plateau are usable roughly from late June, once the snowfields shrink, until late September. Mid September is the peak of the alpine colour and the busiest fortnight of the year at the ropeway. The hot spring villages stay open through winter for skiing and backcountry touring, but the high routes are closed.

Honest expectations

Weather on the plateau turns fast and cold even in August, and the ropeway shuts in high wind, which strands the easy option. Brown bears live here in numbers and the park does not pretend otherwise. Public transport is thin, so most visitors need a car. Outside the two ropeway areas, facilities are basic and English signage is limited.

Nearby

Asahikawa and its zoo, the Furano and Biei farmland, and the caldera lakes of Akan to the east.