Below, I’ve outlined how we actually walked this route, with a few photos and links to the daily blog posts. We did the full hike from Genshigahara to Aizankei, but compressed a couple of days into one. We also had to sit out a storm for two days.
From August 8th till August 15th, 2021, we hiked the longest version of the sought-after Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse in Japan’s northern-most island of Hokkaido. 68.4km from Genshigahara (Furano City) in the south, to Aizankei Onsen (Kamikawa Town) in the north (not including side-trips). Our group was made up of experienced outdoors-people, but all only occasional hikers. Preparations for the hike began a few months ahead of the planned 8-day self-supported hike. They included meal prep, hiking training (!), and agonizing over gear. Click here for a deep-dive into those preparations, food, and kit lists.
Genshigahara Trailhead (原始ヶ原登山口) to Kamihoro Hut (上ホロ避難小屋)
11hrs 1388m 10.7km 8th August 2021
GPX KML
On Day One of the Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse we started walking from the lonely Genshigahara Trailhead 原始ヶ原登山口 at the southern-most terminus of the traverse. We climbed through the ancient forests of the Genshigahara marshlands, bush-bashed through low creeping pine buffeted by foggy gusts, and enjoyed fleeting moments of clear weather. The long 1200m ascent from the trailhead to the summit of Furano-dake 富良野岳 (1912m) was the most climbing we’d do in a single ascent on the 8-day trip. I had received my second Moderna vaccine shot the day before, so it was a long, slow day, hiking with a fever of 38.5°C (101.3°F) for most of the day. Full blog post with photos and video snaps here.
Sheltering from a Typhoon
With wind-speeds forecast up to 90km/h, we spent Days 2 & 3 (9th/10th Aug 2021) on the Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse in the leaky but safe Kamihoro Hut. The hut shook for 24 hours as the storm raged. Only a few kilometers away, another hiker lost his life during the storm. We’d banked on spending up to two days in a hut or tent waiting out weather so we had the extra rations we needed. A mix of serendipitous sleeping through an alarm, a stormy forecast, planning, and fortunate scheduling meant we got off lucky. Our hearts go out to the chap who didn’t. Full blog post here.
Kamihoro Hut (上ホロ避難小屋) to Futago-ike Campsite (双子池キャンプ指定地)
12hrs 965m 1342m 14.8km 11th August 2021
GPX KML
On Day 4 of the Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse, we walked from Kamihoro Hut to Futago-ike Campsite via the Martian volcanic landscape of Tokachi-dake 十勝岳 (2077m), and the dramatic knife-edge ridge of Oputateshike-yama オプタテシケ山 (2012m), one of Daisetsuzan Range’s more remote peaks. After sheltering from a typhoon in a hut for 48 hours, it felt great to stretch the legs with a big day, essentially combining two days into one. Once again the diversity of landscape, topography, and vegetation was spell-binding. This has to be the most engaging and variety-rich hikes I’ve ever done. Full blog post with video snips here.
Futago-ike Campsite (双子池キャンプ指定地) to Minami-numa Campsite (南沼キャンプ指定地)
9hrs 882m 347m 12.1km 12th August 2021
GPX KML
Day five on the Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse again felt like a completely different hike to the previous days. We spent a large portion of the day hiking through tall, fragrant dwarf pines. We strode through thickets of bamboo grass. Approaching Tomuraushi-yama トムラウシ山, the high plateau of Sansendai 三仙台 gave us expansive views of mountain tarns and the distant peaks we’d come from in the preceding days. We capped the day off with a quick summit of the rocky Tomuraushi-yama, with our campsite nestled into the saddle below. Blog post here.
Minami-numa Campsite (南沼キャンプ指定地) to Chubetsu-dake Hut (忠別岳避難小屋)
7.5hrs 293m 626m 10.4km 13th August 2021
GPX KML
Despite being the middle of summer, we woke to frost on the ground on Day Six of the Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse. Camped at a shade over 2000m altitude, it was a chilly but calm start to the day. Our route would traverse the iconic volcanic boulders north of Tomuraushi-yama トムラウシ山 (2141m), and brush past a number of pristine alpine tarns. The shorter day allowed us time to relax and rejuvenate at the rustic but beautifully situated Chubetsu-dake Hut 忠別岳避難小屋. We even managed a refreshing wash in the snowmelt creek. Full blog post here.
Chubetsu-dake Hut (忠別岳避難小屋) to Uraasahi Campsite (裏旭キャンプ指定地)
7.5hrs 1020m 584m 19.7km 14th August 2021
GPX KML
On day seven of our Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse journey we covered some of the most iconic scenery in the northern end of the Daisetsuzan National Park. We compressed two days walking into one, walking across the expansive Takanegahara 高根ヶ原 alpine plateau, dropping in on the newly rebuilt Hakuun-dake Hut 白雲岳避難小屋, and skirting around the great expanse of the Ohachidaira crater 御鉢平. We topped the day off with a quick foray into the colorful volcanic scenery of Ura-asahi, just below Hokkaido’s highest peak of Asahidake 旭岳 (2291m). This would be our last night on the trail. Full blog post here.
Uraasahi Campsite (裏旭キャンプ指定地) to Aizankei Onsen (愛山渓温泉)
9hrs 425m 1485m 14.5km 15th August 2021
GPX KML
It was a bitter-sweet last day on our Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse journey today. We hiked across inspiring volcanic ridgelines, floated above seas of clouds, and finally made our descent to the terminus of this ‘full’ Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse, Aizankei Onsen. Along the way we would summit Hokkaido’s second-highest peak, Hokuchin-dake 北鎮岳 (2244m). After eight days on the trail with no proper wash, the hotspring soak at Aizankei Onsen was just reward for our efforts. Now, it was back to reality in the lowlands…full blog post here.
17 thoughts on “Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse”
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Rob, Thanks of all I would like to thank you for the amazing effort you put to create this resource! I based 90% of my preparation on your website and it turned out extremely helpful. Just want to share a couple of learnings with everyone.
I planned to traverse the park within 4 days this August (combing day 1-2, day 3-4, day 5-6-7 and day 8 from your plan). I was rather confident about my fitness level plus of course you carry slightly less food as compared to somebody who plans an 8 day traverse. I only traversed half of the park over the two days (days 1-2-3-4 as per your plan) and then decided to abandon the remaining part and go to the tomuraushi onsen on MY day 3).
What went wrong:
1. Although I experienced relatively little rain during my trip (still a couple of hours per year and a couple of hours at night) the trails around gensbigehara marshland and later towards tomuraushi were totally wet (I believe because of previous weeks) forcing me to traverse knee-deep swamps a couple of times per day (there is no waterproofing technology that protects your shoes from the water flowing in from the above) and it resulted in badly infected wounds after walking in wet socks all day long. It looked so bad that I was literally afraid to lose my toes at the end of day two).
2. Furano taxis start working around 7 am and I was counting on the fact that I could hit the trail around 4-5 am on the first day. This forced me to do only the first day of your plan one day one and then push days 2-3-4 on my day two (this is night out / night in)
3. Generally I am usually able to beat hiking time estimates by 2-4 times easily and I thought it would be the case here as well (moving fast alone) however in the case of this guide although distance / altitude seem extremely low for the time estimates, the terrain causes a lot of slowness (you literally move in the jungle for many hours with high grass and branches hitting your faces and stealing things attached to your backpack (one unlocked my bearspray luckily nothing happened), most of the time your dont see the ground meaning you might hit rocks, roots, step in the mud or paddles without even knowing
How would I better prepare:
1) take a lot of socks (2 pairs per day – one merina and one fast drying). Merino is great but it does not dry in damp conditions
2. Extra hiking shoes (something light but that still allows you to hike when boots are fully wet)
3. Extra microtowel to dry your shoes (i had one but you cannot dry both boots with one only)
4. Maybe even one more camp slippers with plastic covers or flipflops so that can go to the water source in high wet grass or have dinner and don’t need to put your wet boots on)
This is an amazing traverse and surely will attempt again!!! One of the best place I have ever experiences. Although not high in altitude like himalayas, it feels really wild and secluded so every nature lover will surely appreciate it!
Lukasz, thank you so much for the super detailed report! Sorry to hear you had to abort the walk, but I’m glad to hear you have caught the Daisetsuzan bug! I’m sure Tomuraushi Onsen would have been a glorious soak after that three day slog.
Hi, I just want to second Lukasz’s comments about the condition of the trail between Futago and Tomuraushi.
I also decided to abandon the rest of the hike and descend to Tomuraushi onsen (great onsen by the way:) after the experience of non stop jungle and extremely poor trail for most of the day.
I’m also a reasonably fit and experienced hiker, I’ve done many mountain trails and I can honestly say I’ve never before walked such an extended length of extremely badly maintained path (and I’ve hiked in countries far less developed than Japan).
This came as a complete surprise to me despite having carefully read the Hokkaido Wilds resource on the traverse, which is the main English language resource available. This meant i was unprepared, especially in terms of water supply, which could have resulted in a dangerous situation.
One of the people working at Tomuraushi onsen said that this section of the trail was LAST CLEARED 4 YEARS AGO (sorry about the all caps, but it’s important to emphasise this fact). For the safety of future hikers I think that Hokkaido Wilds should add a clear warning about the condition of this stretch of the trail. Apart from the safety issue, it was very unpleasant walking through that stretch, plenty of times i was convinced that i had somehow lost the trail because it was literally invisible most of the way. The contrast with the section south of Futago in terms of path maintenance and signage was like day and night, I think this info should also be added to the Hokkaido Wilds resource.
Despite all this, the earlier part of the trail was great, Hokkaido as a whole is absolutely wonderful and i can’t wait to come back! Also the Hokkaido Wilds site is a very valuable English language resource (especially if the above warning is added) and i really appreciate the effort made in creating and maintaining it. Thanks!
Dror, thank you very much for taking the time to share your experience. Sorry to hear you had to pull out part way through, but glad that Tomuraushi Onsen lived up to expectations! Quite true about the
Futago-ike to Tomuraushi section. Even when we hiked it in 2021, we were pushing our way through head-high creeping pines for most of the day (fragrant, but hard work!). I’ve added some notes about that section to the post, to try to ensure expectations are on point. Overall, trail conditions are not particularly good, particularly when compared to trails in other developed countries. For what it’s worth, as per the Daisetsuzan Grade System, Grade 5 sections of trail (this includes the Futago-ike to Tomuraushi section) are, as policy, not maintained as much – the priority is maintaining the natural environment vs catering to hiker needs. I’ve added this note to the post also. Once again, thank you for the feedback!
Hello,
We attempted and successfully managed to complete the grand traverse from south to north as two people, late July 24.
It took us 9 days, including 2 days waiting for a storm to pass out.
Although we attempted the trek with heavy bags and without any food for challenge purpose, we would rate the trek as difficult, especially south to north.
Some notes:
– Bears: no bears in sight although we saw steps. We didn’t take bear bell, but shouted regularly and had bear spray in case.
– Water (most important):
++ Day1 water at camp site was still there, however in the morning you cannot get water since the ice is frozen.
++ Day2 water camp is 20min before the camp (south to north) or after in the opposite direction. Still had water end of July.
++ Day3 water camp is tricky to find, you need to pay attention for a pink ribbon in the bushes that indicates a change of trail: go on the side path to find the pond after crossing some bushes.
++ Day 4 water from north to south is close to the end of the day, so make sure you have enough water for 75% of the day at least. Water quality isn’t good.
++ From day 5 onwards no issues with water. Day 8 has plenty of water all along the trail: take 2/3L with you is enough.
– Mountain weather can be unforgiving and vary wildly from one day to another (or within the same day): from cold winds and heavy rain to scorching sun.
– Attempting Day 8 after heavy rain can be challenging: the trail is very muddy and slippery all the way until the end.
– Both trailheads (Genshigahara and Aizenkei) are challenging, no matter which way you will take. For less experienced trekkers, recommend to go up through rope or other trails.
– Aizenkai Onsen is not a great place to stay in (kind of outdated), we recommend to take a bath at the Onsen and then to leave directly by taxi to reach the closest town (around 7,000Yen, 35mins to JR station). Plus no food / no network / no WiFi at the onsen, outside few instant noodles.
– From Furano to genshigahara trail the taxi fee is also around 7,000 Yen and 35min.
Hope this helps for future trekkers!
H
Harold, thank you so much for taking the time to write your notes. This is super helpful insight!
hey guys, thank you very much for the detailed article!
I will be going fro Asahidake to Tokachidake early in October and was wondering how the water/snow situation is there that time of year.
You’ll very likely get snowed on, but you may get lucky and not have to walk in snow. I’d certainly be preparing for snow though! As for water, that will depend 100% on how much rainfall there has been – many of the water sources (e.g., Chubestsu-dake Hut, Biei-fuji Refuge etc) will not be fed by snow any more. I’d advise to always carry more water than you think you may need.
Hi Rob – just done one version if the Grand Traverse – Genshi Gawahara to Asahidake. A Belgian couple were starting at the same time, having read your route guide. Wonder if you’ve started something… English speaking foreigners now do the traverse south to north – Japanese folk, the traditional north to south.
On Oputateshikeyama, I managed to stand on a boulder that upended, taking me with it – did a face-plant on a rock – not to be recommended- assisted by a couple of other hikers back to Biei hut – I carried on the next day with a spectacular black eye. The colours came out more and more strongly as I walked up the range – to the extent that when I turned up at Hakuundake hut, they wanted me to go straight to a hospital. Which I was definitely not going to do – after all, I was clearly fine, and nearly there!
Thanks for the call about which way to go on the Tomurauchiyama boulderfield. The clag was down, the wind was up, I was alone, no path markings in sight, and it’s quite intimidating. But I remembered ‘Rob said go right!’ I went right – there was the trail!
One question about timings on the avenza maps (great resources by the way – thanks so much). Day 4 Futago Ike – Kosumanupuri- Tsurigane – on the Avenza maps it gives 1h35 for both these legs. Is that intentional? On the paper ‘Kogen’ map, it gives 2h30 for each. That’s quite a difference – personally I took 2hours for each leg, and generally I was faster than suggested times.
One bit of kit I wanted to mention that I use loads here in Japan is a foldable water bag – often the water source has been a 20 – 30 minute round trip, and personally I want to carry all the water I’ll need in one go.
Yes…. my first taste of Daisetsuan – just stunning, and so varied. Already planning my next trip! Thanks so much.
Hi Maitrisiddhi, thank you for the report! Sorry to hear about the black eye…indeed the hutkeepers must have had a fright! As for the route timings from Futago-ike to Kosumanpuri, and Kosamanupuri to Tsurigane-yama, I’ve pulled those from the timings on Yamap.com. Good to hear your feedback on those timings though. I do try to put conservative timings on the map, so if I get the chance, I’ll update those timings to be a bit more conservative. It’s a very rough and bush-bashy sort of part of the trail!
What an amazing traverse this is. Such a vast and varying landscape in such a “short” distance, from barren volcanoes to dense bushes and rugged peaks. Here’s a short recap of our route. We did start and end at different trailheads to make the transport logistics a bit easier.
We left with 7 days of food. The forecast indicated 3 days of very clear weather, and storms coming in on day 4 or 5. So we did a couple of long days to make good use of the pristine sunny weather.
DAY 1: Tokachidake Onsen – Furanodake – Kamihorro Refuge
We took transport from the Asahikawa region to Tokachidake Onsen. There are regular trains bound for Kamifurano JR Station, from where there are 4 daily buses to Tokachidake Onsen. We took the bus around noon, to arrive at Tokachidake Onsen around 2pm. From there it’s a 4h hike to Kamihoro Refuge, including going up Furanodake. You can go straight to Kamihoro Refuge in about 2-3h, but Furanodake is too nice to miss out! Kamihorro Refuge has recently been completly rebuild. Water needed to be collected from puddles below the snow fields.
DAY 2: Kamihorro Refuge – Bieiedake – Futagoike campsite – Minaminuma campsite
This was a long one… We combined day 2, 3 and 4 in one very long day. It was just doable in one day (it took us approx 14h), though we wouldn’t recommend it. Especially with the bushwacking section between Futagoike and Minaminuma. A better combination might be to get to Tokachidake Onsen early, and continue to Bieifuji Refuge on Day 1. From Bieiefuji to Minaminuma campsite in one day should be more comfortable. Lots of running fresh water.
DAY 3: Minaminuma camspite – Tomuraushiyama – Chubutsudake – Hakuundake refuge – Hakuundake
Another double day, but very doable. Less climbing, no bushwacking and easier terrain than the previous days. Brown bear sighted near the summit of Chubutsudake… Hakuundake refuge was still unmanned, but we camped. We climbed Hakuundake in the evening, since we were expecting bad weather the next day. Clear and running fresh water at the campsite.
DAY 4: Hakuundake Refuge – Asahidake – Asahidake Ropeway
As expected, we woke up in the clouds and rain. By the time we summited Asahidake, we’d been hiking in heavy winds and rain all morning. It didn’t look like it wasn’t going to clear anytime soon, and the weather was only going to get worse over the next few days. So we cut the day short, and descended to Asahidake Onsen.
Thank you very much for the detailed report Hans! Since you did the hike in June, how was the snow situation? Any issues with steep snow and/or navigation over snow fields?
No big issues with snow. The biggest and steepest slope was probably on the back side of Asahidake, but it was still very manageable with our lightweight trail shoes. We did bring some spikes just in case, but neved had to use them.
Great to hear, Hans!
Hi,
What a great resource! Thank you.
I’m resident in Tokyo and am considering soloing the Grand Traverse but wouldn’t mind sharing the experience with anyone thinking of doing the Grand Traverse or any of its variants in September 2023. I can be flexible with my dates but have pencilled in the first week.
I have extensive experience all around the World.
All the best,
Cheers Carlos. I hope you find some partners to hike the Grand Traverse with. Perhaps try posting in these Facebook Groups: Hokkaido Hikers and Campers, Hiking, Climbing and Camping in Japan, Hiking In Japan Community or Bicycle touring, hiking and friends in Japan.