Distance: 24km | Ascent: 150m | Paved: 100% | ↓ GPX file
We chose to do this trip from east to west. This required a train trip from Sapporo City to Nemuro at the eastern reaches of Hokkaido. There are direct express trains from Sapporo to Kushiro, running daily (check Google). From Kushiro you’ll be on one of those super quaint ‘one-man’ trains to Nemuro. Total train time is about 7 hours. Get on the earliest train you can, and you’ll be in Nemuro in time to cycle to the tip of Cape Nosappu (the eastern-most point of Japan) to camp there for the night.
Accommodation: Boyo-no-misaki Park (望郷の岬公園)
Onsen: None
Distance: 76km | Ascent: 680m | Paved: 100% | ↓ GPX file
Today’s highlights include sun-dried kelp, big empty roads, coastal views, and a cow-shaped campground. Quite literally, this is the campground you’ll be staying at (Google Maps satellite view). It would have been perfectly reasonable to carry on to the campground at Cape Kiritappu, but we were keen to have the time tomorrow to explore the Kiritappu Wetlands (霧多布湿原).
Also note in the blog posts we opted for an extra night in Nemuro, since Haidee was doing some distance learning at the time. She had a supervisor’s meeting, so we stayed in Nemuro at a hotel. So the blog posts for ‘today’ are the following:
Accommodation: Mootto Kazete Campground (ＭＯ−ＴＴＯかぜて) | 324 yen per tent
Onsen: None
Distance: 13km | Ascent: 68m | Paved: 100% | ↓ GPX file
If you’re into birds, the Kiritappu Wetlands is a worthwhile place to visit. There’s an information center up on the hill a little ways inland (here). It has massive panoramic views over the wetlands. It also happens to have a very reasonably priced curry lunch set.
Accommodation: Cape Kiritappu Campground (霧多布岬キャンプ場) | Free
Onsen: Kiritappu Onsen Yuyu (霧多布温泉ゆうゆ) | 500yen | 2.6km from accommodation
Distance: 40km | Ascent: 400m | Paved: 100% | ↓ GPX file
Hopelessly empty roads. Oysters upon oysters. If you find yourself in the area in the second week of October (and you like oysters) then you’ll be in heaven – they have an annual oyster festival here. I had to make do with fried oysters on top of a massive pork bowl.
Today’s campground is about 5km from the nearest baths (Kiraku-yu, here), but the campground also has hot showers for 320yen a person.
Accommodation: Chikushikoi Camping Ground (筑紫恋キャンプ場) | 210 yen per tent
Onsen: Kiraku-yu (喜楽湯) | 440yen | 5km from accommodation
Distance: 55km | Ascent: 400m | Paved: 100% | ↓ GPX file
Brace yourself for a full dose of colonial Hokkaido history towards the end of today. There’s the Lake Toro Historical Museum (here) next to Lake Toro; worth a visit.
Accommodation: Toromotomura Campground (塘路元村キャンプ場) | 380 yen per person
Onsen: () | yen
Distance: 60km | Ascent: 650m | Paved: 90% | ↓ GPX file
The Kushiro Wetlands were the main reason we conceived of this route across Hokkaido in the first place. The Japan-Guide.com does a better job at explaining about the place, but it is Japan’s larges wetland, designated as a national park in 1987. The route for today cuts across the wetlands on a short section of gravel road. There’s a lookout near the end of this gravel road. The campground for today is just over the road from the Akan red-crested crane sanctuary and michi-no-eki, so there’s plenty of information-absorbing to be had.
It is also a great place for a day off the bikes (as we did).
Accommodation: Akan Nature Recreational Village Campground (阿寒丹頂の里 自然休養村野営場) | 750 yen per tent
Onsen: Tancho-no-Sato Onsen (丹頂の里温泉) | 500yen | 0.8km from accommodation
Distance: 80km | Ascent: 1200m | Paved: 75% | ↓ GPX file
Today will get your gravel fix for the trip, with about 25km in total of rindo (forestry roads) across two low-lying forested ridges. The gravel is in good condition for the most part, but can be steep and rough nearer the passes. If you’d prefer not to cycle on gravel, then it is a solid 20km detour down to the coast; the gravel roads option is somewhat of a masochistic shortcut.
UPDATE (2017/7/30): There were reports of a number of trees downed across the route as well as washouts on these roads (see CyclingAbbout’s report on Youtube here).
Upon arriving in Honbetsu, you may want to head to the onsen before the campground, as it is a bit of a backtrack to get back to the onsen. There’s the big and beautiful Honbetsu Onsen across the river (here), which is the preferred option. Alternatively, there’s a little sento in town (here) that is less of a detour. EDIT (2018/10/11): The little sento in town is now closed.
Accommodation: Honbetsu Park Campground (本別公園静山キャンプ村) | Free
Onsen: Honbetsu Onsen Grand Hotel (本別温泉グランドホテル) | 500yen | 4.5km from accommodation
Distance: 76km | Ascent: 400m | Paved: 100% | ↓ GPX file
After a quick dash through the somewhat sprawling Obihiro City, today takes us across the Tokachi Region’s expansive agricultural plains. Wineries, local produce, and cool rows of white-barked birch. The whole region is hopelessly picturesque.
UPDATE (2018/10/11): The Arashiyama campground is currently closed for repairs due to damage from the 2016 typhoon. As an alternative, I doubt anyone would object to cyclists discretely setting up their tents next to the ski area, around here. From memory, that disused building has fairly large verandas would would be handy if it was raining.
Accommodation: Arashiyama Auto Camping Ground (芽室町嵐山オートキャンプ場) | 320 yen per tent | 540 yen per person
Onsen: Shin Arashiyama Lodge (国民宿舎 新嵐山荘) | 270yen | 0.7km from accommodation
Distance: 80km | Ascent: 1200m | Paved: 100% | ↓ GPX file
Cycling over Nissho Pass will be memorable. Memorable mainly because you survived it, and finally made it to the glorious refuge of the sleepy mountain town of Hidaka. It is a main trunk route for trucks hauling Tokachi’s produce from the fertile plains around Obihiro to the port town of Tomakomai on Hokkaido’s southern coast.
As such, while the pass is a hill-climber’s paradise (from the Memuro Campground it is exactly 1,000m climb), it is not for everyone. The alternative for getting to Hidaka Town is a 300km detour around Cape Erimo to the south, or 120km detour across Karikachi Pass (644m) to the north. This is in comparison to the 1,000m climb and 80km direct route to Hidaka Town via the Nissho Pass. Ultimately it will come down to your tolerance for heavy traffic. On the whole it is fairly well behaved.
In any case, Hidaka is a gorgeous little town, with that surrounted-by-mountains feel. Good enough, in fact, to have a rest day at the very restful campground (rest day blog post here).
Accommodation: Hidaka Sarugawa Auto Camping Ground (日高沙流川オートキャンプ場) | 400 yen per tent | 100 yen per person
Onsen: Hidaka Kougenso Onsen (ひだか高原荘) | 500yen | 0.7km from accommodation
Distance: 50km | Ascent: 1050m | Paved: 95% | ↓ GPX file
After a lovely rest day in Hidaka, we carry on towards Sapporo, taking a detour via Shimukappu and Niniu. This route goes via a closed-to-general-traffic road. This route is slightly longer than the National Highway 274, but it is infintely more relaxing. There is a small amount of well-packed gravel on this section.
Accommodation: Hobetsu Campground (穂別キャンプ場) | 510 yen per tent
Onsen: Jukai Onsen Hakua (樹海温泉はくあ) | 520yen | 2.7km from accommodation
Distance: 44km | Ascent: 380m | Paved: 100% | ↓ GPX file
Day 11 and Day 12 could conceivably be merged into one big day back to Sapporo, but the Yuni Campground and onsen up the road is a nice spot to stop before tackling the entrance into the big metropolis. Also, you’ll be passing through Yubari on Day 11, so make sure to stop at one of the melon stalls along the way.
Accommodation: Furuyama Chosui-chi Nature Park Auto Camping Ground (古山貯水池自然公園 オートキャンプ場) | 500 yen per tent | 1000 yen per person
Onsen: Yuni-no-Yu Onsen (ユニの湯) | 650yen | 2.5km from accommodation
Distance: 50km | Ascent: 300m | Paved: 100% | ↓ GPX file
On the final day of the trip, we cycle across the Naganuma Plains to the beginning of the separated cycleway that will take you into Sapporo City (the Sapporo-Eniwa Cycling Road – full details here). There’s a nice bakery in Naganuma here.
Onsen: () | yen
30 thoughts on “Far East Trans-Hokkaido (Nemuro to Sapporo)”
Hey, I’m planning to do this route and wanted to ask, how is it in point of power on this rout or on the routes in general. Can you charge your devices on these trails? On the campgrounds? Or do you need do carry a bunch of power banks? Because I need my phone for navigation and I want to be prepared 🙂 And thanks a lot for the ressources, I’m really excited to be doing your route!
Thanks for everything,
Kilian
Hey Kilian, yes, there are charging points in campgrounds, but sometimes you need to get creative – some of the power outlets are under toilet sinks etc! So, take a power bank and use sockets to charge it, rather than having to leave your phone unattended.
Hi Rob,
Thanks a lot for your inspirational itineraries! We are looking forward to test for real. On that itinerary, you used the closed road 610 between Hobetsfukuyama and Niniu Campground. Do you know if the road is still closed or still ridable?
Best regards, Edgar
It is still rideable and a very nice option!
Hi Rob,
I wonder if you hav any thoughts …
We are landing in Sapporo on 6th July and departuring 31st of July. And currently deciding how to play it, so just over three weeks at hokaido. the far East trans route appeals the most to us as we did fair bit of coastal cycling at Shikoku, kjushu and Korea. However we have got full size bikes with racks on and havent got any experience with trains at all in Japan. Apart from once when We tried, took handle bar and front wheel off and wraped it all in black massive cling film and witj tape – and we were turned away by train staff.
So considering
Option no 1 would be to cycle straight from new shitose airport to the fa east – but idea of not being able to get back by train to Sapporo scares me. Looking for a bike box in nemuro etc. As Bike with rack doesn’t fit in bag.
Option number two would be to go from the airport straight to Sapporo station and squat one night somewhere with bike being packed in a box after flight and catch Early morning JR to kushiro and then nemuro.
Option no 3: a bus? There seems to be over night bus from Sapporo to nemuro according to Google for 8200yen? Which would mean no need to pack a bike just put in a trunk.
Any thoughts/suggestions on logistics would be appreciated. Thanks a lot in advance and your effort put in this web!
Ondřej
Sorted 🙂 eventually managed to find all the answers around here. Thanks Rob!
Great to hear Ondrej! And apologies for not getting back sooner.
Hi Rob – we plan to do this trip this coming June on our Brompton’s; do you know if there are ‘lockers’ at the airport where we could leave our Brompton travel bags so that we could ride straight from/to the airport?
Hey Mark, apologies for the late reply. Coin lockers at New Chitose Airport have a max 3-day storage period, so your best bet is to leave them at the Temporary Luggage Storage (https://www.new-chitose-airport.jp/en/service/baggage/baggage_checkroom/). Small-size baggage (length + width + depth = 120cm total) is 310 yen per 24hrs. The ‘Medium’ size is between 120cm and 200cm (530yen per 24hrs). Another option would be to book the same accommodation in Chitose City (or elsewhere near the airport) for your arrival night and night before leaving – they’ll hold onto those bags for sure. Hope this helps!
Thank you Rob. Very much appreciated!
It looks like you took your bikes on the train fully packed and ready to go. Do you have to arrange bike carriage in advance? Or are there other special arrangements you need to make?
Hi Rob and Team,
We will be riding the Transhokkaido Tour from east to west in the coming week. We considered running from Honbetsu northwards through the Daisetsuzan national park, Asahikaya, and then back toward the south again to meet the original route (instead of crossing inland through Shimukappu-Mura on a more straight line). Any thoughts on that?
How is the current situation with bears? Have you heard any recent stories with bears becoming less shy in times of COVID with less people/tourists being around?
Thank you!
Ben
Hi Ben, apologies for the late reply. How did the ride go? We’ve not heard much more than anecdotal stories of bear encounters, and none really connected to COVID lockdowns etc (of which there were none here in Hokkaido). This article might be good reading for you: https://hokkaidowilds.org/bear-encounters-increasing-in-hokkaido-should-hikers-be-worried
I’d like to do this itinerary in 2022, together with some of the other Hokkaido routes – say, a month-long ride. May I ask why you decided to travel to Nemuro, and then ride westward to Sapporo (instead of the reverse) ? Apologies if I missed the explanation somewhere.
Hi Wentian, sorry for the late reply! The only reason at the time we chose to do the ride east to west was that it felt psychologically nicer to be ‘cycling home’ to Sapporo. As far as prevailing winds are concerned, you might find more tailwinds going from west to east, as the favourable winds in summer generally blow from the southwest. I hope this helps!
Wouhou ! That’s so nice to read, the coincidence makes me really happy and I hope you had (or are still having) a good canoe trip research! Actually, even just now I stumbled upon your warmshowers profile (coming to Sapporo soon). Thanks again for your amazing website and your inspiring stories and achievements! Best, Melanie
Hi Rob & Haidee,
FYI – the Memurocho Arashiyama Auto Camp Ground is still out of action. The place was overgrown with weeds and looked pretty much abandoned when I was there in early August. The river bank next to the campground makes a great alternative, secluded stealth camp spot.
Thanks so much Rob and Haidee for all your efforts on this wonderful website. My go to source of info when planning my cycle trip to Hokkaido and no doubt will be again when I come back next year. What a beautiful place and wonderful people.
Cheers
Glenn
Hi team – there is so much love and energy in this site, fantastic! I am thinking of doing this trip on a road bike in early October, looking at maybe 5 days. May cut some parts out to make it a bit shorter..
Question for you who have done it: is the road ok for road bikes (25mm tires, not as robust as your bikes I saw on the photos) or the roads too rough, too many potholes, etc?
Thank you in advance for your response,
Thomas
Thomas, you’ll be absolutely fine on a road bike. Our fat tires were waaaaaay overkill for this route. If you’re accustomed to doing 100km+ days, then I’d be confident doing this trip in 5 days full riding. For reference, I did the Abashiri to Sapporo route (https://hokkaidowilds.org/cycle-touring/abashiri-to-sapporo-trans-hokkaido), which is further by distance, in 4 days, on a heavy 29+ bike. Please take a look at Day 7 though – we did some gravel riding on that day which would be very tiring on a road bike (I certainly wouldn’t bother attempting it). On a road bike I’d cut south to the coast and rejoin the route from the Day 8 campground. We also did a very small amount of gravel riding on Day 10, but not so much that you’d struggle on a road bike – I’d be happy to do Day 10 on a road bike.
Amazing, super helpful answer. I am tailoring the route right now, cant promise to not have more questions later 🙂 THANK YOU!
And just to clarify… you would recommend to basically cut out Day 7 to avoid gravel, or cut out Day 7 AND 8 to avoid gravel? Just trying to see between which cities I should try to ride along the coast… Thank you!
Nope, just Day 7.
Hi Glenn, thanks for the beta and the kind words. Great idea to camp next to the river.
Just wanted to post some encouraging words on here from someone who rode this in June – we had a brilliant time and a highlight of our 5000km across Japan.
We rode this route straight from the airport, missed out going right to the end of the Island and instead headed up north along the coast to combine it with the Shiretoko Loop. I think it took us 15 days, with a rest day at Notsuke peninsula, one at Utoro and a rest day riding around Lake Kussharo area. I would recommend cutting inland and exploring this incredible volcanic area, instead of going along the coast – which looked rather dull (but fast).
We did see a bear on a walk, and camped at a site that had had a bear on the day before (which they shot..) and talked to a couple who saw a bear from the road whilst riding the coast on the Shiretoko loop, so be aware.
I think if I was to ride this again, I would hire bear spray, as a bell and loud singing (which we did in earnest!) can only do so much. Just my feelings, as a first time traveller in bear country. We didn’t ride on gravel due to taking road bikes, but detours were easy to find and pretty quiet, using MAPS.ME.
I’m really glad you enjoyed your time on the route, Nick! Really encouraging to get feedback like this 🙂 Very exciting that you got to see a bear – glad the encounter ended amicably.
Thanks so much for all your efforts in publicising the Island, it’s truly and amazing place and your routes are superb! Already working out a winter trip…
Dear Haidee and Rob,
Here’s a message to thank you for the routes and inspiration you put in Hokkaidowilds. It’s been a great ressource and I’m loving my time in Hokkaido, partly thanks to you! Also, I’m pretty sure I was staying at the same campsite as you were yesterday (near Abashiri), wondered why your faces seemed familiar until it hit me today on the bicycle. Was it you?
Best,
Melanie
Hey Melanie, yes we were! We had wondered how far you were cycling. Looks like you are doing a big trip here in Japan. Good on you. Glad the site has been useful. Haidee and I are out east for two weeks, documenting a whole bunch of canoe routes out this way. Tailwinds to you!
Wouhou ! That’s so nice to read, the coincidence makes me really happy and I hope you had (or are still having) a good canoe trip research! Actually, even just now I stumbled upon your warmshowers profile (coming to Sapporo soon). Thanks again for your amazing website and your inspiring stories and achievements! Best, Melanie
https://ridewithgps.com/embeds?type=route&id=14330105&metricUnits=true&sampleGraph=true
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