Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park

Jigokudani - Hell Valley - steams in a snowbound gorge of the Yokoyu River, and since the park opened in 1964 its troop of Japanese macaques has done the thing no other wild monkeys on Earth are famous for: easing into a hot-spring pool while snow settles on their fur. The monkeys live wild in the surrounding forest and descend daily for the park's provisioning; in deep winter they queue for the bath like weary commuters, faces flushed red, infants clinging in the steam. The approach is part of the ritual - a 1.6-kilometre walk through snow-hung cedar forest from the road end - and the old onsen towns below, Shibu and Yudanaka, extend the theme for humans with lantern-lit lanes and public baths of their own.

What you actually see

• The bathing troop - macaques shoulder-deep in the steaming pool.
• The snowbound gorge - steam vents and river under heavy winter white.
• The forest approach - the cedar-path walk that earns the scene.
• Shibu Onsen below - lantern lanes and bath-hopping for the humans.

When to go

December to March is the season the photographs promise - cold enough that the monkeys actually want the bath. They visit the park year-round, but in green months they mostly sit beside the water rather than in it.

Honest expectations

These are wild animals on their own schedule - some days the pool is full, some days nearly empty, and no refund covers disappointment. The walk in is icy and gripless footwear is a genuine hazard; midday brings tour-bus density around one small pool. Do not touch, feed or stare down the monkeys - the rules are enforced and sensible.

Nearby

Shibu and Yudanaka onsen towns, Zenko-ji temple in Nagano and the Shiga Kogen ski slopes.