Monbetsu-dake Snowshoeing

紋別岳

Hokkaido Hiking / Sapporo Area

Haidee and Rob Thomson from The Hokkaido Wilds

Posted on Feb 8, 2019

by Rob and Haidee

23 0

Posted on Feb 8, 2019

by Rob and Haidee

23 0

8.8km

Distance

5hrs

Time

540m

Ascent

865m

Highest point

5/10

Difficulty

Jan-Mar

Best season

Monbetsu-dake (紋別岳, 865m) is a very beginner-friendly hill on the Lake Shikotsu caldera rim. It is a particularly fun hill on snowshoes. The route follows a road most of the way up, so navigation is a breeze. From the summit, there are expansive views across Lake Shikotsu. In the winter, the antennas and radio towers are a welcome presence at the summit - on a windy day the lee of the buildings will provide some shelter from the wind.

We visited this route on Feb 18, 2017

Last updated Jul 13, 2021

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Need to know details

Location

Monbetsu-dake (紋別岳, 865m) is a peak on the Lake Shikotsu (支笏湖) caldera rim, about 30km south of central Sapporo City. The trailhead location (in both summer and winter) is here, just north of the Shikotsu Village center.

TRAILHEAD (opens in Google Maps)

General notes

Like many of the peaks on the Lake Shikotsu caldera rim, Monbetsu-dake has a nice final approach on a ridge that directly faces the lake. The whole way up you’ll have great views of the lake below. As mentioned above, the route follows the road on the way up and down. While the route marked in this guide leaves the road just before the summit, it is possible to just stay on the road the whole way. It will wrap around the back of the summit and arrive at the top from the north. If confident of your navigation abilities, however, it is worth cutting off the road just below the summit, and climbing up the steep ridge. This provides the best views of Lake Shikotsu.

Monbetsu-dake on skis: Monbetsu-dake would also be possible on skis, but there are not many open areas to get a good run. If you’re happy with relatively dense trees (or skiing on the road), then being on skis would cut the downhill time.

Route Timing

Up | 2.5hrs

Down | 2hrs

The road is not particularly steep the whole way up and down, so it is best to allow plenty of time for the downhill – there won’t be much sliding involved.

Route

This snowshoe route is not marked. The road is relatively well defined, even in winter, but there may be times that you may need to take your bearings to make sure you’re on the right track.

Transport

Public transport:

This route is accessible by public bus from Chitose JR Station. See bus information here. You would take the bus to Shikotsu Village, and then walk the 450m from the bus stop to the trailhead (route here).

By car:

There is parking for about 10 cars at the trailhead here.

Hut(s)

None

Physical maps

Print: HokkaidoWilds.org 1:25,000 TOPOMAP+

GSI Topo Map: Shikotsuko-onsen (支笏湖温泉) – map no. NK-54-14-12-1

NOTE: The GSI 1/25000 topo map(s) above can be purchased for 350yen each from Kinokuniya bookstore next to Sapporo Station or online (in Japanese).

route safety

Notify the police of your backcountry plans online using Compass – instructions here.

Weather forecast

Windy.com weather forecast for Monbetsu-dake

Onsen nearby

The very upmarket Lake Shikotsu Mizu-no-Uta (水の歌) is right next to the bus stop (here), and costs 1,080yen per person.

Extra Resources

No extra English resources that we know of. If you know of any, please let us know in the comments.

Guide Options

If you’d like to hike this route and/or explore other hikes in the central Hokkaido area together with a local certified guide, get in touch with Yasuko Kikuchi. Born and raised in Hokkaido, she’s a JMGA-certified guide now based in Sapporo. Her outdoor experience is broad and worldwide, having worked as a Canadian Ski Patrol member, and has sumitted a number of 6,000m+ peaks around the world. She speaks good English. In addition to Yasuko, also see a full list of English-speaking Hokkaido Mountain Guides Association (HMGA) guides on the HMGA website here.

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Route Trip Notes

An easy dayhike in winter. That was the idea for today, so Mt. Monbetsu was an easy choice. We arrived at the trailhead at 10:30am, and got ready to head off. We were all ready to put our snowshoes on when we noticed that the trail was so well packed that we ended up walking without snowshoes for the first hour of the trip.

We had a couple of false starts at getting up onto the ridge directly below the summit. We eventually found the right place though, and started climbing up direct to the summit. This is where the views really opened up. Snow showers came and went across the lake, giving us glimpses here and there of the hills.