Tanigawa (Gunma)

Tee
May 9, 2023
2 min read

Updated: Jul 24, 2024

Tanigawadake 1977m is an intermediate hike with a partial ropeway. In summer there are lots of beautiful wild flowers and the hike can get quite busy. If you take the ropeway both ways it’s an easy hike. If you decide to walk all the way the route is steep and has near vertical chain sections.

		
⏲︎	Time: 6h30min
✎	Kanji:  谷川岳
⚲ 	Location: Gunma
↔	Distance: 7.1km
✮	Difficulty: Intermediate
ᨒ	Elevation Gain: 812m
☀	Dayhike
☉	Hiking Season: May
	to November

Access

Car

Park at the ropeway parking lot (500Y)

Public Transportation

If coming by train take the Shinkansen to Doai station and walk 15min to the trailhead/ropeway. The station is pretty interesting itself and and worth a little stop if you're coming by car. The walk up the stairs is a work-out already.

Take the ropeway up or start from the trail behind the ropeway up the road. The ropeway is 3000¥ return or 1800¥ one way.

Trail description

The trail up to the peak is pretty staight forward. Once you get out from the ropeway walk up the hill and after a couple of minutes you'll get to a junction. Both will join again after 10 min, so it doesn't matter which one you take.

After 30 min you'll get to an old shelter. From there it's about 1h to Katanokoya, you can have food here or even stay overnight.

After the hut its only a couple more minutes to the peaks. Then backtrack a little and instead of going back to the hut turn left. From there it was about 3:15min back down to the ropeway. As you can see on the pictures below there are a couple of steep sections and you'll need to use chains. If you're not comfortable using your hands to climb down better take the ropeway.