An autumn trip up Hakkaisan Ropeway [SPOT REPORT]

This past weekend, my family and I wanted to do a little autumn leaf hunting, and took it upon ourselves to head up the Hakkaisan Ropeway. Pre-pandemic, this was one of our favorite local spots to take our international friends and family who would come to visit, and it's been a while since we've gone up there ourselves. Honestly, there's no better season than autumn for a visit here, because if you time it right the colors are just divine.

If you haven't already seen it, there's a question on City-Cost at the moment asking about your dream places to enjoy autumn leaves across Japan. Although I do have a few bucket list places that I'd love to check out someday, when I have views like this locally it's hard to justify traveling for them!

The view headed up the ropeway from this past weekend. Not too shabby if I do say so myself!

One thing I really loved seeing as we headed up the ropeway was the susuki, also known as pampas grass. I love their shimmering silver color, and I think they're something in the nature world that doesn't get enough credit. 

Seeing all the pampas grass dancing in the breeze was stunning, and complemented the autumn leaves wonderfully.

I'd say if you are planning a visit, that the last week of October to the first week of November is the best time to see the leaves at their peak. Soon enough the leaves will fall and before we know it, this area is going to be covered in meters of snow. 

There were plenty of reds, oranges, and yellows to enjoy this past weekend at the Hakkaisan Ropeway.

If you do get to visit, I hope you appreciate the scenery as much as I do. It's not a very well known spot outside of the local population, so as you can see below there weren't really significant crowds – another excellent plus of visiting.

To visit via public transport, head to Muikamachi Station (serviced by the Hokuhoku or Joetsu Lines). From there you can transfer to the Mt. Hakkai Ski Resort Bus, and the Ropeway base is about 5 minutes on foot from there. If you drive, parking is available at the bottom of the ropeway.