Mt. Naeba (苗場山）
Mt. Naeba is well known as a stellar ski resort and home of the annual Fuji Rock festival (but nowhere close to Mt. Fuji!). The summit features beautiful wildflowers and glorious views of Mt. Tanigawa, the Northern Alps, & the endless flow of peaks of Gunma prefecture to the east.
The hike: From the parking lot at Wada hut, take the trail that cuts across the ski resort in front of you. Fill up your water bottles in front of the hut before setting off. The path parallels the ski slopes for the first hour or so, on a well-marked path that becomes a river during a heavy rain storm! As you climb up towards the ridge, you’ll pass through 3 different “grassy areas”, labeled ‘lower’, ‘middle’, and ‘upper’. These will be signposted at 下ノ芝, 中ノ芝, and 上ノ芝 respectively. There are an awful lot of wooden planks built into the path to keep hikers from trampling wildflowers. These become treacherously slippery when wet, so take extra care during rainy weather. Once you hit the ridge, a trail will come in from the right. This is an alternate approach, but the way to the summit is left, so keep trudging along for about 10 minutes until coming to another junction. This path on the left leads to the top of the Dragon Gondola, but ignore it and head to the top of Mt. Kagura (神楽ケ峰). Tons of skiers traverse up this far to find clean powder runs in winter. From here, there’s a rocky traverse over to the true peak of Mt. Naeba. You’ll find a water source just before the trail drops to a saddle. Fill up your bottles here and take a break. It should take about an hour to reach the summit of Mt. Naeba. The initial part is quite steep, but once your on top it’s an easy stroll through beautiful marshlands to the high point. There are 2 huts on top, so take your pick if staying the night. Please note that camping is NOT allowed on the summit! Head back down the way you came, or consider descending down to Akayu (赤湯) for a nice soak in a hot spring bath.
When to go: Mt. Naeba gets the greatest amount of snowfall in Japan, as the ski resort usually stays open until late May! That being said, if it’s a crystal clear day with good weather and low avalanche danger, then you can try this one in the winter by starting from the highest lift at Kagura Mitsumata ski resort. Just remember that you’ll be hiking on top of 3+ meters of snow! Otherwise, aim to go between May and early November.
Access: There are 7 different approaches to Mt. Naeba, neither of which are very convenient without a car. If you’re coming by bus, then the handiest approach is to take the trail leading from Akayu (赤湯). Take a bus from Echigo-yuzawa station (越後湯沢駅) toward Mt. Naeba Prince Hotel and get off at Motohashi (本橋). If you choose this approach it’ll take over 8 hours of tough hiking to reach the summit. Click here for the bus schedule. Another approach would be to take the Dragon Gondola from the Prince Hotel and start your hike from the top of the gondola. If you do this, then it can be done as a day trip (but you have to pay for the gondola!) Alternatively, you could do as I did and take a very expensive taxi from Echigo-yuzawa station to the top of the Kagura gondola at Wada hut (和田小屋). The taxi will fleece you out of 9000 yen or so. I’ll describe the hike from here, since it’s the shortest and most popular way up the mountain.
Level of difficulty: 3 out of 5 (elevation change ~1000m)
Explore posts in the same categories: Niigata hikes (新潟県)Tags: hiking, Hyakumeizan (百名山), japan, Mt. Naeba, Niigata hikes (新潟県)
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Hiking in Japan 
February 22, 2009 at 9:22 pm
You describe a beautiful escape from Tokyo! I am keen to try these hikes, but I haven’t climbed in Japan before, please can you tell me where you source maps? also what is the deal with the mountain huts? – do I need to book in advance or just turn-up? what do I need to bring/ what is the minimum that the mountain huts provide?
Many thanks for any relevant guidance.
April 25, 2015 at 4:48 pm
Hi Wes
As a henna gaijin living outside Japan working through the hyakumeizan on occasional trips to Japan, I’m rapidly coming to the view that, outside the gorgeous main northern and southern alps multiday ridge line hikes and a small number of other places where a multiday hike bags you a few peaks, I need a rental car to get efficiently to get to many of the hyakumeizan trailheads. Public transport just doesn’t cut it, often ceasing to run 20k from a trail head and often only available for a very limited time of the year and even then on weekends only.
So my next hyakumeizan adventure is likely to be a solo trip using one of those dinky little Japanese rental cars to get between trailheads and using kyampu-jos to keep costs down. (Normal sized cars appear more expensive to rent in Japan than anywhere in the world, even though new purchase prices are quite cheap – go figure.)
That’s all background, I’m interested to know if you can assist with a query relating to Naeba san – another awkward mountain in terms of access. In particular, on the limited online maps I can currently access, the closest road access appears to be from Road No 405 that runs down from Tsunan towards Akiyamago on the western side of Naeba san. Are you able to identify how long the hike trails up the mountain are from that side in Japanese mountain map language?
Thanks again for a fantastic website.
May 24, 2015 at 6:48 pm
If you haven’t already done so, you would be better off posting your query to the hiking in Japan group on Facebook. That’s where all the action takes place:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/9872778764/
November 8, 2022 at 2:10 pm
Important Update: The route from Dragon Gondola is not possible anymore. There is a sign you shouldn’t enter, as this route is not in use anymore. It‘s still worth the ride to look at the beautiful leaves.
I took the first bus from Echigo-Yuzawa (to Price Hotel as mentioned above) station at 5:35 and got off at Motobashi (元橋) and climbed from there via Akayu Onsen. It’s a tough hike but possible as a day trip if you stay in Echigo Yuzawa the night before.
The return bus is currently at 16:40 (which I didn’t make) and 18:28 and possible at 19:38 this one is written on the bus schedule but when I called the bus company they said the 18:28 is the last bus.