Trip Report

Cycling Across Hokkaido, Japan (Day 3): From Nemuro to Hamanaka

Posted on Aug 17, 2014
2

Posted on Aug 17, 2014

We got away from Nemuro relatively late, at around 10am. The sun was already up and it promised to be a hot day. In the end we would cycle 71km to a cow-shaped campground. Cow-shaped. I kid you not. But first we did a quick detour to the famous (or so we are led to believe) kuruma-rock (wheel-rock) just outside of Nemuro. A geologist I am sure would have something to say about how these rock formations came about, but all I know is that it has something to do with magma.

Last updated Oct 14, 2018

Posing at the Kuruma-stone near Nemuro city, Hokkaido, Japan

We stopped for lunch under the porch of a local fisheries coop, enjoying the shade. Generally on the road, however, I have snacks stashed in a feedbag made by Alpkit. This is the first tour I’ve used it on, and it is super handy. On this tour, it would mostly have plum tomatoes, cucumbers, or bananas stashed in it for handy access.

I am in love with feedbags (Genesis brand, on a Surly Karate Monkey)

Our route along highway 142 along the coast was quiet for most of the day. We passed some beautiful coastlines, and through quiet, ancient-looking forests.

Cool and quiet forest along the coast near Konbumori, Hokkaido, Japan

For cycle touring, you could hardly ask for a better road to be on.

Equally quiet roads along the coast near Konbumori, Hokkaido, Japan

Nice light along the coast near Moraito Town, Hokkaido, Japan

The poles lining the sides of the road, with the arrows pointed down…they’re to guide snow-plows in the winter, when this area spends around 4 months in snow.

Did I mention this route was idyllic?

Idyllic scenery near Hamanaka, Hokkaido, Japan

Our destination for the night was the Motto Kazete campground in the small village of Hamanaka. The campground is part of a larger park, with a dairy product promotion building on the grounds. When the facility is open, they offer cheese making and yogurt making experiences for tourists. It wasn’t open when we were there.

The campground had lovely spacious toilets…

Nice spacious toilets at Motto Kazete Campground in Hamanaka, Hokkaido, Japan

And great facilities for cooking.

Motto Kazete Campground in Hamanaka, Hokkaido, Japan

And as I mentioned at the top of this post, the entire park is shaped like a cow. The picture below is a map of the grounds. The blue lines are roads. We were camped in the cow’s nose.

Mo-tto Kazete campground, shaped like a cow, in Hamanaka Town, Hokkaido, Japan

Approximate route for the day: https://goo.gl/maps/dz8y2

Comments | Queries | Discussion

2 thoughts on “Cycling Across Hokkaido, Japan (Day 3): From Nemuro to Hamanaka”

  1. The mootto kazette campground is closed. Ow because of bears. We stayed at an (relatively expensive) campground near Akotto, but the facilities were great. ¥800 per person and ¥800 per tent. At 45.7km the road was closed (because of a forest fire warning?) and we took a detour via the coastal road.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

See More Like this

Download may take some time

Hokkaido Wilds Foundation

We’ve got affiliate links on HokkaidoWilds.org to help fund the Hokkaido Wilds foundation.

The Foundation gets a small commission on sales from affiliate links, but we only link to stuff we think is worth checking out for people keen on the outdoors in Hokkaido and Japan.

The Hokkaido Wilds Foundation is a fund where 100% of funds are donated to Hokkaido volunteer groups involved in sustainable, safe, and responsible access to the Hokkaido outdoors.

Learn more here

ADVANCED FILTERS

Filter by location

About Filters

REGION: The general mountain/geographical region the route is in.

BEST MONTH(S): Time of year a route is suited to visiting. Some pop all season, some are more limited.

DIFFICULTY: How strenuous a route is, and how technical it is. Full details here.

FREERIDE/SKITOUR: Very subjective, but is a route more-of-a-walk-than-a-ski or the other way around? Some routes are all about the screaming downhill (freeride), some are more about the hunt for a peak or nice forest (ski-tour). Some are in between. 

MAIN ASPECT: Which cardinal direction the primary consequential slope is facing, that you might encounter on the route. More details here.

ROUTE TAGS: An eclectic picking of other categories that routes might belong to.

SEARCH BY LOCATION: You can find routes near your current location – just click on the crosshairs (). You may need to give permission to HokkaidoWilds.org to know your GPS location (don’t worry, we won’t track you). Or, type in a destination, such as Niseko or Sapporo or Asahikawa etc.

Please let us know how we can make it easier to narrow down your search. Contact Rob at rob@hokkaidowilds.org with your suggestions.

Cycling Across Hokkaido, Japan (Day 3): From Nemuro to Hamanaka Difficulty Rating

Category

Grade

Points

Strenuousness

Vertical Gain

D

25

Time ascending

D

0

Technicality

Altitude

D

0

Hazards

D

Navigation

D

Totals

25/100

GRADES range from A (very difficult) to D (easy). Hazards include exposure to avalanche and fall risk. More details here. Rating rubric adapted from Hokkaido Yukiyama Guidebook 北海道雪山ガイド.