Tanigawadake 1977m (谷川岳) is an intermediate hike with a ropeway that brings you halfway up the mountain. We took the ropeway up and walked down. In summer there were lots of beautiful wild flowers and the hike can get quite busy. If you take the ropeway down again this is an easy hike, but the reason I rated it intermediate is because we walked down and the trail is a bit steep, has climbing sections and is overall not easy.
Time: 6:30h
Distance: 7.1km
Location: Gunma/Niigata
Difficulty: Intermediate
Elevation Gain: 812m
Dayhike
Access
Take the ropeway up or start from the trail behind the ropeway up the road. Ropeway is 3000Y return or 1800Y one way.
We parked at the ropeway parking lot (500Y)
If coming by train take the Shinkansen to Doai station and walk 15min to the trailhead/ropeway. The station is pretty cool itself and and worth a little stop if you're coming by car. The walk up the stairs is a work-out in itself.
Trail description
The trail up to the peak is pretty staight forward. After the ropeway walk up the hill, after 10min you'll get to a junction, but 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
Accomodation
Tanigawadake katano koya: 7500Y incl 2 meals. If you bring your own bedding its 1500Y cheaper. Reservation required.
Elevation Profile & Map
Gallery
If you have any questions leave a comment below or message me directly through the chat!