By Matt Klampert
Why go to snow country before there is any snow on the ground? One great reason is for cycling! Away from the busy city streets there is plenty of wide-open road for you to enjoy! Whether you prefer more straight-ahead riding, or more rugged nature courses, you have endless nature at your fingertips in YUKIGUNI. Here is a quick run-through of some of the cycling courses you can experience.
Cycling around Sakae
If you would like your nature experiences especially quiet and peaceful, the remote village of Sakae in Nagano can’t be beat. While it is true that some of the best nature spots can be tricky to reach with public transportation, using an e-bike grants you easy access to much of what this great area has to offer. This includes scenic rides like Akiyama-go, which is beautiful in all seasons, but especially when the leaves change color in fall!
When you arrive at Morimiyanohara station in Sakae you can rent your cycles, grab a map or two, and be on your way! Choose between regular e-bikes and sports types. Some highlights of the trail include Nonomi Kogen, a nature spot surrounded by beautiful beech trees that is a great location for camping. On the way, you can go to secluded “Hidden Onsen” such as the hot springs at Kiriake. Courses also go from town to town, such as toward Nakago in nearby Tsunan. You don’t need to worry if you go out of town, as bikes can be returned to the tourism associations in Tsunan and Tokamachi. If you do choose to base yourself in Sakae, certain local accommodations offer discounted stays, including Deguchiya in Akiyama-go, which we wrote about HERE. Please note that bigger groups are required to reserve their bikes.
Biking in an “Art Field”
The city of Tokamachi combines beautiful scenery with exquisite art during their art festival, the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. During the green season you can enjoy seeing some of these exhibits by e-bike! Biking courses around the Echigo-Tsumari site take roughly three hours, during which time you can enjoy more than 300 works of art!
To begin with, you can rent cycles from the Tourist Information Center at Matsudai station. This station can be directly accessed from Echigo-Yuzawa station on the Hokuhoku line. Exhibits you can see include Ryo Toyofuku’s “Golden Playroom,” the 5 Senses Museum at the former Nunagawa Elementary School, and the China House. The course ends back at the Nohbutai Museum, which holds many permanent exhibits, and is also the home of the delicious farm-to-table Satoyama Shokudo Café. Click HERE to learn more about it.
Cycling through Tsunan’s River Terraces
Tsunan is known for their unique and interesting scenery, including river terraces. They make for a fun and unique biking experience!
Cycling courses in Tsunan include the Nakasato Course, which begins at Tsunan Station, and combines art installations from the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale with the natural wonders of the Naeba Sanroku Geopark. The Naeba Sanroku Geopark was originally created by volcanic activity around Mt. Naeba, which was last active approximately 300,000 years ago. This caused movement in the Earth which gradually allowed rivers and lakes to form, and eventually, human settlement. In recent times the Geopark has become a key site regionally both as a nature preserve, and also a place of archeological importance. Within the Geopark you can take a break from cycling to see a museum, grab a bite to eat, take a dip in a hot spring, and much more! Click HERE to learn all about it. The Geopark is also a registered site for forest therapy in the region.
Toward the end of the tour, you can stop at the Naeba Sake Brewery. Tsunan’s pure water makes for excellent sake, and it will surely be a refreshing treat after a long ride. We’ve also talked about another local brewery, the Tsunan Sake Brewery, HERE.
Other places to see while you cycle
Of course, you don’t have to go very far for cycling, since the town of Yuzawa has its own cycling courses, which they combine with local tours including picking and eating local mountain vegetables called “sansai.” Starting at Echigo-Yuzawa station, you can enjoy a breezy 20 minute bike ride out to the mountains of Kandatsu, where you will meet your “vegetable sommelier” for the day. Learn all about growing these crops with knowledge that has been passed down in Snow Country for centuries. You will also hear all about the local flora and fauna: kamoshika, bears, wild boar, and the fish swimming through the rivers at your feet. Then enjoy a delicious meal with the locals! The Snow Country Information Center has information on this and many other local cycling tours, so do pay them a visit when you arrive in YUKIGUNI.
