Climbing Mount Tonodake - Part 1

This past Saturday, a friend and I decided to go mountain climbing for the day. We selected a route in the Tanzawa Mountain range, in mid-Kanagawa. The route traveled 7.5 km one way, over four other mountain peaks, before reaching the summit of Mount Tonodake (1,491 meters).

Route map and facts
Distance: 7.5 km (one way)
Total height: 1,491 meters (4,891 feet)
Time: 4 hours (one way)

Cutenekko: ready for climbing! ^_^

We started from Bodai Pass at 07:15. There are two routes, but we recommend the forest route, which passes 二ノ塔(ni-no-to), as the view and path are more spectacular.

Route option #1:
Go through this gate, following the road for about 500 meters. On your left, you'll see a wooden route marker to 二ノ塔(ni-no-tou). This route is not recommended, as it's full of rocks and stairs, but most people hike this route:

Route option #2 (recommended):
On the left of the gate seen above, you can find this trail. From here, hikers climb to 三ノ塔(san-no-tou):

This route is not as well known, so we enjoyed climbing through the forest completely alone....

Trail:


Forest: 


View through the trees:

After 20 minutes of climbing, we reached a small shrine in the forest and a route marker:

To the right: a small shrine. To the left, the trail continues to san-no-tou.

After another 15 minutes or so, we reached a viewpoint. Great! 

Cutenekko points out the view:

Finally, after about 1 hour, we reached the summit of 三ノ塔(san-no-tou). This peak is 1,205 meters (or 3,953 feet). Hurray! 

The summit point for the first of 4 mountains:

From 三ノ塔(san-no-tou) to the next two mountains, was really tough. I'll share photos from that experience in another post. 

Tanazawa mountain range is located in central Kanagawa. Access: Odakyu train to Hadano sta. Kanachu bus to Yabitsu Pass. Cost: ¥460 for the bus. It takes 38 minutes. 

This climb is ranked "quite tough", especially if you want to do it in one day. The trail is very steep, and climbers need to use ladders and chains in some areas. Hiking boots, rainwear, and a pack with 1 litre of water + food are a must. Allow 8-9 hours for the complete climb (ascent + descent). 

For beginners, we recommend this trail to the summit of 三ノ塔(san-no-tou) only. It's only steep in one area (you'll need to use a rope to pull yourself up the slope); the rest of the trail is very nice and quite relaxing. 

General information regarding Tanzawa Mountains is HERE.

A blog about a similar climb (with reader's comments on additional routes) can be found HERE.