Chiiwa Gorge (Aichi)

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Chiiwa Gorge is a beautiful valley hike along Chiiwa river with some cool rocks and caves to climb at the end. It's accessible year-round but best visited in spring or fall before it gets too hot. This hike is great as a quick escape from the city like Nagoya or Hamamatsu.

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⏲︎	Time: 2h
✎	Kanji: 乳岩峡
⚲ 	Location: Aichi
↔	Distance: 5.5km
✮	Difficulty: Easy
ᨒ	Elevation Gain: 300m
☀	Dayhike
☉	Hiking Season: year-round
	

Access

Public transportation

Take the train to Mikawa-Kawai Station and walk about 30min to the trailhead.

Car

Park at the free parking lot or private parking lot right in front of the road to the trailhead (only open in summer/weekends).

While google shows that you can still drive to the trailhead, that's not possible anymore and it's been closed for cars for a while.

If the free parking lot is full, there are a couple more spots 10min up the road towards the dam.

Trail description

The first part of the hike to the trailhead is on a paved road. Trailhead has toilets.

From the trailhead its another 15min along the chiiwa river, until you get to a couple of signposts. Here you need to turn right and go up the hill. If you continue straight you can climb some of the peaks behind the valley and do a full dayhike (8-10h).

After the signs it gets steeper and you'll have to climb some stairs and ladders while looping around the big chiiwa rock. You'll pass a big arch and a cave with some buddah statues. Then you get back to the river trail and head back the same way you came.

Extra Info:

This mountain range hosts Japanese mountain leeches (yamabiru), they usually start appearing from early summer and are present into fall, until it gets colder. Bring salt to remove them and wear thicker socks over your pants if you plan on going in summer.

Elevation Profile & Map

Gallery