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Access to Kurobe Gorge from Kamikochi 2019/6/12 09:48
Hi there!

Ifm planning to tackle the notorious Omote Ginza trail (nothern alps) this autumn (28/9 - 5/10) - Itinerary as follows

28/9 - arrive in tokyo, head straight to azumino city
29/9 - spend a day cycling around azumino
30/9 - start the multi-day hike
3/10 - finish the trail, head down to kamikochi and spend a night here
4/10 - am thinking of visiting kurobe gorge from where ifll take the shinkansen back to tokyo. Am unsure of how to get to kurobe gorge from kamikochi. Any ideas of the route and how long it would take? Am not keen to do the tateyama alpine route, just kurobe gorge only.
5/10 - walk around tokyo and head to the airport in the afternoon.

Cheers!
Jas
by Jas Nguyen  

Re: Access to Kurobe Gorge from Kamikochi 2019/6/12 11:35
Via Takayams and Toyama.
Or
Via Matsumoto and Nagano.

4 to 5 hours.
by hakata14 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Access to Kurobe Gorge from Kamikochi 2019/6/12 11:52
Hi!

Getting tot he gorge is going to take a while, more like 5-6 hours because connections are just not always well timed.

There two routes to get to Kurobe-Unazaki Onsen Station by public transport from Kamikochi and both would involve you needing to leave Kamikochi on some sort of transport no later than 9:30 am and possibly earlier.

First, by way of Matsumoto, you would need to catch a 9:30 bus from Kamikochi to Matsumoto Station arriving at 11:22 You can then take a 12:06 Limited Express to Nagano and just miss the shinkansen and have an hour layover in Nagano. (you could also take a regular train at 12:28, and have a longer layover in Matsumoto and a longer train trip) You would then take a 13:58 shinkansen to Kurobe-Unazaki Onsen station and change there for the Toyama Chiho line and get to the start of the gorge around 15:34.

Second, you could do Kamikochi to Hirayu to Takayama, with good connections it's only 1.5 hours but good connections are the operative words. There are 4 Hidas up to Toyama a day. It only takes about 90 minutes, but again there are only 4. I would suggest timing for the one that leaves at 11:01 arriving at 12:30 as the next one isn't until 13:15 so you're not in Toyama until 14:47. From Toyama you would take a shinkansen at 13:19 to Kurobe-Unazuki Station, if you made the 11:01 Hida and you would then transfer so that you arrive at the start of the train along the gorge at 14:13. You have to make the 11:01 though, which is also the first Hida to Toyama, there really isn't anything earlier.

The Matsumoto route is a little slower but has more connections.

All travel times are subject to change, I used a recent week day to get them. However, the # of Hidas between Takayama and Toyama has been this limited for at least the last 2 years. I had a longer layover than planned when I missed the 11:01 and planned to take a noon train not knowing it would involve a super long layover in Inotani and arrive within 10 minutes of the 13:19 Hida which I ended up taking.

Good luck!
by rkold rate this post as useful

Re: Access to Kurobe Gorge from Kamikochi 2019/6/12 13:29

Are you planning to travel as far as Keyakidaira in the Kurobe Gorge ? If you are, I do not think you would have ample time to enjoy your visit.
https://www.kurotetu.co.jp/en/
by . (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Access to Kurobe Gorge from Kamikochi 2019/6/12 14:44
As PPs said, access by transport is only from Unazuki onsen, which is far from Kamikochi. While the gorge is nice, I think that after a few days of hiking out there it could even be a downer. The gorge is great for those of us who do not hike. Because the small train gives us access to the middle of the mountains and nature and we can then walk around a little bit.

If you have more time you could instead hike into the gorge. It seems there is a hiking path from Kurobe dam. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/steviekunfoto.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/...

http://www.outdoorjapan.com/magazine/story_details/152

The access to this is from Kurobe dam. But youfd probably need something like 3-4 days. Per the information above the route is also only open for a short period of time.

Enjoy your hiking trip in Japan!
by LikeBike (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Access to Kurobe Gorge from Kamikochi 2019/6/12 19:57
Thanks all for the replies! Extremely helpful!

I guess it might take more than just a day to explore the area - so I will stay at komikochi to explore the surroundings and head back to tokyo thereafter.

Thanks again!

Cheers
Jas
by Jas Nguyen rate this post as useful

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