Nature's Canvas: A Day Trip Through Aomori's Scenic Waterfalls and Lakes
Great way to start the day
Here is the Itinerary for our day: Hakkoda Mountain Ropeway, Jogakura Bridge, Water Lily Swamp, Hell Marsh, Sugayu Onsen, Oirase Gorge, ferry across Lake Towada and then we head home. We start the day off by going outside to fly the drove. Ended up seeing a rainbow in the morning and headed inside to eat some breakfast because our driver doesn’t arrive until 8:00 AM. The selection from JAL City Aomori breakfast buffet was ELITE. Japanese Hotels know their stuff when it comes to breakfast. They don’t play any games and from my experience in American hotels, Japan just beats it. No contest. I see the driver walk in so now it’s just a waiting game because Isa had disappeared. We walk out to the taxi and its pretty overcast, which is a common theme for this day since it did rain... A LOT. Our taxi driver was a character, super bubbly and hilarious. Even if I didn’t understand a single word he said, I could just tell by his demeanor that he was a fun guy to be around and just overall welcoming. The first sign of this was that he saw that it started to rain and he immediately stopped at the Konbini to grab us umbrellas. I went in with him because I was willing to pay, but he graciously paid for our umbrellas with his own money. If that isn’t above and beyond service, I don’t know what is. We continued our drive to our first stop and much like the day trip in Hokkaido, we experienced a lot of nature on this trip aswell.
Hakkoda Ropeway
First stop we make is at Hakkoda Mountain Ropeway. We make our way in the building to bad news: We can’t take the ropeway up because there was thunder recently. Honestly, this was unfortunate, but the main reason I even booked this trip was to see Jogakura Bridge. Jogakura Birdge isn’t accessible via public transport so best way to see it is in a package tour around the prefecture. We stayed in the Ropeway building for a short bit, hoping that things would clear up and we’d be able to take the ropeway up, but to no avail. I guess when I return to Aomori, I will have something extra to look forward to. We headed out on to the big one.
Jogakura Bridge
Next on the list was Jogakura bridge. This was the one I was here for. It’s a long bridge over a ravine that has an amazing view both on and off. We had 30 minutes here and it was the perfect amount of time. We walked across the bridge, the rain had cleared up by the time we made it there, and it was overall very peaceful and relaxing. We saw no tourists visiting this bridge so we were there by ourselves just walking along and taking pictures. We made our way back before the time had ran out and headed out to our next stop.
Water Lily Swamp
Making our way down hilly roads and endless turns, we end off at Water Lily Swamp. We pulled over on the road so I didn’t know what it was at first. We walked up a short wooden staircase, made our way through a weedy path, and BOOM… Views! 2 mountains in the distance and endless greenery all around. We took some pictures and took in the gentle breeze that was so soothing. It was a wave of euphoria that took over me and my endorphins were pumping at full blast just being here. It was almost as if I were experiencing a psychedelic trip the way I felt. Something about being in the Japanese countryside that just lit me up. We took some pictures and video and made our way back, hopped in the taxi, and drove 2 minutes down the road to Hell Marsh. Hell marsh was also extremely colorful. It was a small little pond surrounded by steam with the mountains behind it. There were some Chinese tourists here taking pictures on their disposable cameras. I think I will buy some disposables for my next trip. If you’re interested in buying disposable cameras, you can click here. We got back in the taxi and made our way through the woods.
Sugayu Onsen
After some driving, we arrive at the parking lot of Sugayu Onsen. This was the perfect opportunity to go to the bathroom. This is where it started to rain… A LOT… Again. We grabbed our umbrellas, walked through this little forest path that was as green as a leprachaun. We ended at a wooden platform that overlooked a pond. It was really cool with the rain coming down, the misty sky, and the fog surrounding the pond with the pine trees being obscured. We had enough because it was raining hard and it was starting to pour harder so we made our way back to the taxi and headed off to probably the best part of the trip.
Oirase Gorge
We make our way through the forest until our driver stops at Oirase Gorge, which is MUCH more than just Oirase Gorge. It’s still raining at this point, but it only adds to the experience of everything. This is a heavily wooded area lined with a big rapid creek. I take some pictures at this place and some videos, and then we make stops all along the way taking videos of a bunch of different beautiful creeks until we reach a beautiful waterfall. We make out way to the waterfall and I decided to walk right up to it sacrificing my shoes in the process. WORTH IT! The view right next to the waterfall was elite and we ended up passing probably 15 waterfalls afterwards. It was insane. We then made our way to Lake Towada where we ate a later lunch before boarding a ferry. Our driver was going to meet us on the other side of the lake to pick us up, but for now it was just me and my buddies on the lake. The ferry ride was around an hour long and I captured so many pictures and video. It was an amazing experience and enlightening just standing outside with the lake breeze. We made it to the other side of the lake and got to our taxi and headed back to the airbnb. On the way back, we also saw a rainbow so that’s 2 rainbows in one day which is a new one for me.
Closing thoughts
The Hakkoda and Lake Towada day trip was amazing. Definitely a major highlight in this short trip in Aomori. The driver was amazing, and super kind. I struggled to communicate with him which really put into perspective that I need to start studying Japanese more seriously. The nature, waterfalls, etc were just stunning and I wouldn’t do it any other way, rain or not. If you want to find where I booked this trip, click here and book your own trip through Hakkoda. I don’t have much else to say besides the fact that it was a great day and am ready to head off to Sendai. Thank you all for reading and staying tuned and see you on the next journey! Love y’all.
