The Hokkaido Wilds diamond logo (410px high)
Search
Close this search box.
The Hokkaido Wilds diamond logo (410px high)
Search
Close this search box.

Monbetsu-dake Snowshoeing

紋別岳

Hokkaido Hiking /

Hokkaido Hiking /

Haidee and Rob Thomson from The Hokkaido Wilds
Posted on Feb 8, 2019
by
0

Haidee and Rob Thomson from The Hokkaido Wilds
Posted on Feb 8, 2019
by

0 0

8.8km

Distance

5hrs

Time

540m

Ascent

865m

Highest point

5/10

Difficulty

Best season icon (Hokkaido Wilds)
Jan-Mar

Best season

GPX

KML

TOPO

GSI

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

GPX route file download

KML route file download

Print

GSI

Route Map

Big
small

Photo Gallery

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. 

About guide links on Hokkaido Wilds

We make an effort to support certified, English-speaking local guides on Hokkaido Wilds (see a full list here). They’ll have the experience and skills to help make access to Hokkaido’s most wild places possible.

Disclaimer: Booking a trip with a local guide through Explore-Share.com via Hokkaido Wilds earns us a commission. 100% of that goes into a fund to promote and sustain the Hokkaido outdoors. SEE MORE DETAILS HERE. 

About guide links on Hokkaido Wilds

Support us

Like this content? Buy the HokkaidoWilds.org team a coffee. 50% of tips go to the Hokkaido Wilds Foundation.

Buy us a coffee

Show Full Route Notes Close Route Notes

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.

Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)

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.

Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)

After a quick lunch in the lee of one of the buildings at the summit, we started out descent back down the way we came.

Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)
Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)

We were down in time to drive back to Sapporo via Chitose City. We stopped in at the Bird Watching Cafe for an afternoon snack.

Mt. Monbetsu snowshoe route (Hokkaido, Japan)

Comments | Queries | Reports

Done this Monbetsu-dake route? Thinking of doing it? Please post any feedback or queries here. Thanks!

Leave a Reply

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

More Hokkaido
Hiking Routes

Hokkaido
Huts

Safety

#hokkaidowilds

About
Hokkaido
Wilds

Follow on Instagram

Hokkaido Wilds CC BY-SA 4.0 (guide)| Site Map

Printable Monbetsu-dake Topomap

TOPO DOWNLOAD (PDF, 2.9MB)

Download may take some time

BADGE by @joekkaido

Instagram Facebook Twitter Etsy Link

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.

Monbetsu-dake Snowshoeing Difficulty Rating

Category

Grade

Points

Strenuousness

Vertical Gain

C

30

Time ascending

C

3

Technicality

Altitude

C

3

Hazards

D

Navigation

D

Totals

36/100

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.