Around Daisetsuzan 7 Day Cycling Tour

We meet at 5:00 pm at our hotel in Shirogane Onsen and prepare ourselves for the following 6 days of adventure by going over the tour details and fitting our bikes before dinner. The first night’s accommodation will be in Shirogane Onsen, located at the foot of Mt. Tokachi, an active volcano.

If you plan on arriving at Shirogane Onsen earlier in the afternoon, we recommend enjoying the sight of the Shirahige Waterfall and the Biei River (also known as Blue River), which are both conveniently located in the village. We also recommend walking down the 2km forested trail to Fudo Waterfall.

Today’s cycle starts with a pleasant downhill ride along a beautiful road lined with Hokkaido silver birch trees, heading towards Biei town. Biei is well-known for its picturesque landscape featuring rolling hills and vast crop fields, often likened to Tuscany. The rolling terrain makes for great cycling as we warm up our legs.

We will visit a few of the iconic Biei destinations along the way, such as Shikisai-no-Oka Flower Park and vistas of lonely trees atop hills. After lunch we will also visit a local lavender farm before we continue riding to our accommodation in Furano.

Setting out from Furano, we will ride through flat farmland and then gradually start climbing into the mountains alongside the Sorachi River. The road eventually climbs to Lake Kanayama, where we can cycle along the lakeshore. One of our favourite rest areas is located by the lake where you can hear the sound of songbirds.

At the eastern end of the lake, we will stop at a “Roadside Station” for lunch. The station is a rest area with parking, restaurants, and shops. We recommend filling up on food, recharging yourself for the afternoon climb. We will climb to our first mountain pass of the trip, “Karikachi Pass”, which is known for its magnificent views of the vast Tokachi Plains.

This morning we will cycle through the hills on the edge of the Tokachi Plains, with a short morning tea break at a local Roadside Station. Our journey will continue through the Tokachi farmland and on to Shirakaba Pass, where we enter the Daisetsuzan National Park. Lake Shikaribetsu, at 810m above sea level, awaits after conquering the pass.

After lunch by the lake, we will ride along the lakeshore before climbing beside a mountain stream then descending to Lake Nukabira at 525m. This evening we will be staying at a historic hotel that has been renovated into a modern Japanese-style inn run by a friendly, local family. Make sure you hit the outdoor onsen and enjoy a relaxing soak under the star-filled skies!

Today is a big day as we will take on the challenge of Mikuni Toge Pass, the highest National Road in Hokkaido at an elevation of 1,139m. We will ride along a White Birch lined road from Lake Nukabira to the foot of the pass. Several bridges along the climb give expansive views over the valley we just cycled up and the scenery is some of the best of the trip. We will then stop for lunch at the lookout to take in the fantastic views of the Kumaneshiri mountain range and the dense woodland at its foot.

After lunch, we cross the pass and have a rewarding 24km ride downhill to the finishing point of the day at the entrance to Sounkyo Gorge.

For the last 10km, we will travel in our van as there are a series of dark and narrow tunnels on the route. Our accommodation will be in Sounkyo Onsen, a hot spring resort village known for its scenic surroundings. We highly recommend wandering over to Sounkyo Gorge to marvel at the waterfalls cascading down cliff faces formed by columnar joint rocks. Enjoy a night in the village and re-energise yourself with a soak in the healing waters of the hot springs.

This morning we will say goodbye to Daisetsuzan National Park and cycle towards Asahikawa City. We continue along the Ishikari River, Hokkaido’s longest river at 268km in length. We will enjoy a leisurely ride on the flat purpose-built cycling road alongside the river that takes us directly to the centre of the city.

To celebrate the end of the trip, we will head to one of the local sake (rice wine) breweries. The region is well-known for its rice production and high-quality spring water, making it the perfect location to produce award-winning sake. We will learn about the brewing process of sake, and sample some of the sake produced on site.

The tour will wrap up after breakfast. Our hotel is conveniently located near Asahikawa JR Station, from where you can take a train to Sapporo, as well as the airport shuttle to Asahikawa Airport.