I was looking for some low altitude, snow-free hiking and knew I could find it in the hills of northern Ibaraki. I remembered seeing in my guidebook a loop-hike above a river valley I had never been to before; after checking it again, I saw it followed a section of the Kanto Fureai no Michi inside a prefectural nature park. I would ride the Hitachi limited express to Mito and then switch to a bus taking me close to the trail entrance, then do the same trip in reverse for the return. The weather was supposed to be sunny with spring-like temperatures, a good day for short sleeves. I was looking forward to hiking through some beautiful nature and getting some good views of a new area.
Hiking the Fureai no Michi
ふれあいの道
View from the top of Mt Fuji
Beautiful forest at the start of the gozenyama hiking trail
After a comfortable ride to Mito under light blue skies, I boarded a bus for the one-hour ride to the Gozenyama bus stop. Although it was only 11am, I decided to have an early soba lunch at Sobakiri Kuzo (そばきり空蔵) and then make a quick visit to the Katsura Michi no Eki road station. At 12h30, I was finally ready to start hiking. At first, the path climbed through stunning mixed forest, each species of trees carefully labeled; after passing an “azumaya“, a sheltered seating area, the trail became mostly level, with towering cedar trees on both sides. After a few minutes, I reached a turnoff on the left leading to a view point to the south, just a minute away, and the site of an old bell tower.
Walking under the cedars (left) one of the many ups (right)
A sunny section section of the trail
After admiring the view, I returned to the main trail. Some ups and downs, brought me to the highest point of Mt Gozen (御前山 ごぜんやま gozen-yama), completely in the trees. The trail descended sharply, crossed a road, and then rose again. At 2h30, I reached another “azumaya“, slightly off the main trail, with a view east through the trees, so I took a short break before setting off again. From this point, the trail became increasingly hilly and not unlike some of the “Alps trails” I had done in other places; about an hour later, I was glad to finally reach the top of Mt Fuji (富士山 ふじやま fuji-yama). From the top of the viewing platform, I had a view east of the Nakagawa river and the hills of Daigo on a cloudless day.
North view from the Mt Fuji observation platform
Nakagawa river from the Mt Fuji observation platform
I walked down a seemingly endless series of steps and reached the base of the mountain around 4pm. From there, one-hour walk of peaceful walking along a road through the fields and then above the Nakagawa river, took me back to the Gozenyama trail entrance and its bus stop. At 6h30, I was back at Mito station where I got on the limited express for the short ride back to Tokyo.
See the trees and views of Mt Gozen
Hiking Around Tokyo 