There are a couple of stunning ponds between Hakkōda Ropeway and Oirase Gorge, and Tsuta-Nana-Numa Ponds are the most famous. These ponds are stunning, and a promenade links them for you to take a relaxing stroll. In addition, a ryokan is located close to them, which allows you to adore the astonishing sunrise scenery in autumn!
Table of Contents
- Tsuta-Nana-Numa Ponds (蔦七沼)
- The Relaxing and Beautiful Numa-Meguri No Komichi
- Tsuta-Numa Pond (蔦沼)
- How to Get to Tsuta-Numa
Tip: Stay at Tsuta Onsen Ryokan to enjoy what the area has to offer!
Explore Oirase Gorge With a Guided Tour
You can also book a tour to explore the popular attractions between Hakkōda Ropeway and Oirase Gorge.
Tsuta-Nana-Numa Ponds (蔦七沼)
Tsuta-nana-numa is a collective term of Tsuta-numa (蔦沼), Kagami-numa (鏡沼), Tsuki-numa (月沼), Naga-numa (長沼), Suga-numa (菅沼), Hyotan-numa (瓢箪沼), and Aka-numa (赤沼).
Apart from Aka-numa (赤沼), the other six ponds are relatively closer together and connected by a looped promenade, Numa-Meguri No Komichi (沼めぐりの小路).
If you want to get to Aka-numa, it is 2 km away from the other six ponds.
For the promenade map, please refer HERE to the official website (=ﾟωﾟ)ﾉ
The Relaxing and Beautiful Numa-Meguri No Komichi
The promenade starts from Tsuta Onsen Visitor Centre (蔦温泉ビジターセンター). Before you head off to explore, it might be a good idea to get some information about what you will see during this scenic walk and what wildlife you may encounter!
Important: the promenade was built to minimize human impact on the virgin forest. So please follow the promenade and don’t attempt to wander around freely.
If you are a big animal lover, instead of autumn, you might want to visit the Tsuta-nana-numa from late May to late June.
The virgin forest is filled with energy during this time of the year. Birds can be easily spotted around the area as it is their breeding season!
In June, frogs will join the party with the birds, and you will get a symphony of nature (*’▽’).
When you go past Hyotan-numa, look carefully at the trees around you, and you might be able to find the eggs of the Forest Green Tree Frog (the white thing in the photo on the left-hand side)!
In July, don’t forget to come out of your hotel room because the nights will be glowing with fireflies (≧▽≦).
In autumn, don’t just look up for the autumn leaves, but look down for mushrooms too (we don’t know if they are edible though so don’t start picking!).
Tsuta-Numa Pond (蔦沼)
Tsuta-Numa is most famous for its autumn foliage, and to be exact, it is the autumn foliage that can only be seen at the moment when the sun just arises Σ(ﾟДﾟ).
To get the perfect photo, many photographers arrive at Tsutanuma as early as 3:30 am!!
During the fall foliage season between mid to the end of October, the sun usually rises between 5:30 and 6:30 am. So if you stay at the Tsuta Onsen, just an 11-minute walk away, you should still be able to capture this unreal scenery even if you get up around 5 am.
But keep in mind that it is best to get a space in the front row at the moment of sunrise, so no one blocks your sight.
If you are really not a morning person, the view at Tsuta-numa is still amazing, but just not as red and vibrant as the one you would get when the sun first shows its face (*´ω｀).
Tsuta-Numa Pond in Late October
As mentioned before, Tsu-ta Numa Pond is an extremely popular destination in the autumn foliage season. So from 2022, a reservation and/or admission fee may be required to access the pond’s observation deck between the 20th to the 31st of October.
- A reservation is required if you want to access the observation deck from 5 am to 7:30 am.
- The cost is:
- 2,000 yen per car
- 2,000 yen per motorbike
- In addition, each person who enters the observation area will be charged 2,000 yen.
- The cost is:
- No reservation is required during the day. But if you drive there, it will cost you
- 2,000 yen per car
- Motorbikes are charged 1,000 yen per bike
Please refer to HERE to reserve and for more information.
Important: Reservation is open on the 7th of August in 2023. While you can reserve up to 3 days in advance, the number of spots is limited. Once the tickets are sold out, you won’t be able to make a reservation.
How to Get to Tsuta-Numa
From mid-April to mid-November, you can take JR Bus Mizuumi-Gō (みずうみ号) from either JR Aomori Station’s bus stop no. 11 or the bus stop no. 1 located at JR Shin-Aomori’s east exit and get off at Tsuta-Numa.
You can refer to our How to Get to the Picturesque Oirase Gorge article for more information about the Mizuumi-Gō.
If you visit the area in winter, you will have to drive, unfortunately…
Aka-Numa (赤沼), The Pond That Was Left Out…
The Aka-numa pond was left out of the promenade – Numa-Meguri No Komichi (沼めぐりの小路) for a good reason.
To get to the pond, you will be doing some real hiking without any proper hiking course built. You can easily get lost too…
But once you get there, you will feel your effort is worth it! No matter how tiring it was to hike all the way up, once this magnificent view is right in front of you, we are sure that your body will be healed instantly!
How to Get to Aka-Numa
When the JR Bus Mizuumi operates between Aomori and Oirase Gorge, you can catch one and get off at Senninbashi (仙人橋). If you are driving, you will be parking your car at the car park close to Senninbashi Bridge as well.
From then on, please follow the red arrows in the photos from this article. Whilst the article is in Japanese, we found it really helpful (^_-)-☆.
Discover Other Scenic Ponds Between Hakkōda Ropeway and Oirase Gorge
There are a couple more stunning ponds between Hakkōda Ropeway and Oirase Gorge. Especially if you plan to explore the area with a car, we highly recommend stopping by each of them so your visit to the Hakkōda Mountains is more complete!
For more information, refer to our article on The Picturesque Ponds between Sukayu Onsen and Tsuta Onsen.
Traveling South to Oirase Gorge
Your visit to Hakkōda shouldn’t just end around the northern part of the Hakkōda Mountains. Further down south is where Aomori Prefecture‘s most beautiful destination, Oirase Gorge, is located.
And before you reach there, there are a couple more breathtaking attractions that you might want to stop by.
For more information, please refer to our Hakkōda Ropeway to Yakeyama, the Prelude to Oirase Gorge article!
