What is Mt.Kurikoma? The famous place for autumn leaves! Enjoy the spectacular view called “God’s Carpet”!
Good evening, I’m ryo!
Thank you for coming to my Blog.
There’re a lot of wonderful places in Iwate, so I want many people to come to Iwate.
By the way, It’s feeling like autumn more and more. Beautifully colored autumn leaves can be seen in various places. Autumn is a beautiful season where you can see various colors.
Today, I will introduce “Mt. Kurikoma” that is famous for autumn leaves. The autumn leaves of it is calle “Carpet of God“!
- What is Mt.Kurikoma?
- The famous place for autumn leaves! Enjoy the spectacular view called “Carpet of God”!
- Information of Sukawa route
What is Mt.Kurikoma?
“Mt. Kurikoma” is a stratovolcano with an altitude of 1,626m that spans the three prefectures of Ichinoseki City, Iwate, Kurihara City, Miyagi, Yuzawa City, Higashinaruse Village, Akita. The origin of the name is said to be that the remaining snow of the shape (horse shape) that appears on the mountain in spring was used as a guide for sowing. Each region has its own name, and in Ichinoseki City it is also called “Sukawadake“.
Since ancient times, Mt. Kurikoma has been formed by multiple volcanic activities. and it has been designated as the Kurikoma National Monument and the forest ecosystem protection area around Mt. Kurikoma and Tochigamori. Also known as “Hundred Famous Mountains of Flowers“, because about 150 kinds of alpine plants grow in clusters, and the rich natural view weaved by them is superb. it is also sometimes called the “Queen of the Oshu Mountains“.
Do you know autumn is the most popular season on Mt.Kurikoma?
Mt.Kurikoma is colored with beautiful autumn leaves from late September to early October. Because of its beautiful autumn leaves, It is called “Carpet of God” and its spectacular view fascinates many people, so many climbers visit every year in search of it.
The famous place for autumn leaves! Enjoy the spectacular view called “carpet of God”!
Mt.Kurikoma is famous for beautiful autumn leaves! I actually climbed the mountain on October 6th, so I will introduce the required time etc.
There are nine climbing routes on Mt. Kurikoma (one of them is currently impassable due to high volcanic gas concentration), this time I used the Sukawa route. Sukawa route starts from Sukawa Onsen. It originally branches into a route that passes through Showa Lake and a nature observation route that goes through Ubunuma. However, due to the high concentration of volcanic gas near Lake Showa, that route is currently impassable, so I used nature observation route.
This route is relatively easy for beginners to use. There are not many rocky areas on the mountain trail, and the ground has a lot of soil, so I felt it was relatively easy to walk. However, when it rains, the ground becomes muddy and slippery. And there is also a place to cross two small streams in the first half of the route. so although it is an easy course to climb, it is better to wear clothes and equipment such as non-slip trekking shoes.
It ’s the time it took to climb this time.
| From Sukawa Onsen to the summit of Mt.Kurikoma | about 90min |
| From the summit of Mt.Kurikoma to Sukawa Onsen | about 120min |
| Total | about 210min |
When descending the mountain, I slowly descended while enjoying the scenery!
I think there are differences depending on your physical strength and how you take a break, but I think that you can climb a mountain with plenty of time if you have 4 to 6 hours throughout.
The weather wasn’t very good on that day, but I was still able to see the beautiful autumn leaves.
When you go mountain climbing, please follow the rules and manners of mountain climbing, such as considering the nature conservation of Mt. Kurikoma, so that everyone can enjoy watching the autumn leaves.
Information of Sukawa route
| Address | Rinpanboku, Matsurubesankokuyurin46, Genbi, Ichinoseki, Iwate |
| Access | 【By Car】Ichinoseki Station~Sukawa Onsen about 60mim |