I've been asked several times for hiking course in Hiroshima. As the city is surrounding by mountains it's quite fair to wish to escape in nature and reach some summits providing wonderfull panorama of the city and the Seto inland sea. Moreover I'm myself found of hiking and looked for some completely wild and unreachable places as soon as I arrived at Hiroshima.
Of course the first place to think about is Miyajima. Hiking courses there as well as access to the island are both simple and well indicated. But I would like to introduce you some more "secret" places.
The mountains at the west of the city, going to the south along the seaside down to Miyajima and farther, are really beautifull. For example the Gokurakuji Temple area (map google
here) is fabulous ! Unfortunately, to go there you will need a car, or a bicycle and iron legs ! The Gokurakuji is higher than Mt Misen of Miyajima ... If you're not afraid anyway, farther to the south you may be interested in the Oono Nature Observation Center (map goole
here) .
Toward the northwest you may find some interesting spot while going to see the Mitakidera Temple (map google
here). There are some courses that goes around the temple in his bamboo forest. Mitakidera is really easy to access : go to Yokogawa station by tram, take train for 5 mn to Mitaki, walk 10 mn to the temple. By itself it's an enough charming place to justify the ticket cost. The hiking courses here are easy and short, and there is connection with others pathways to explore ... I guess some of them make connection with the Mount Chausu (map google
here) and his giant white relay. That's the first hiking course I've discovered around Hiroshima, a very rocky and steep place ! From the top you can see both the entire Hiroshima and Saeki ward, as well as Inland Sea of course. From Hiroshima, follow road 265 up to Kokutaiji temple, less than 10km from Peace Park. In front of the temple you will find a very little stairway. That's the starting point to the summit.
At immediate north of Hiroshima station, still inside the city, the moon shaped Mount Ushita (map google
here). Few minutes walk from the main station, it's the easiest way to escape in greenery from the city. And the south part has some attractive sacred places (in particular the Hiroshima Pagoda). But surrounding by the city there is a not so wild atmosphere that doesn't fit me...
I recently started to explore the east of Hiroshima. There I found a quite interesting place : the Fuchu city camping ground in the resting water gap forest (wow what a name !!! ;-) ) (map google
here). Around 5 km from the main station, just follow the direction for Fuchu city, take road 272 and follow the river. You will soon be stunned to have reach such a wild place ! And Fuchu has also several funny places to see on the way to the camping ground. Just have a look to the tourist map near Takejinja Shrine. Once you reach the parking of the camping ground, take one minute to visit the information center. You can find there maps of the area and various informations. Then, you can choose betwen the road by car or bycicle, ot the pathways by walking. There is various places of interest everywhere inside the forest : waterfall, temple, momiji valley, summits, ... I reached recently the top of mount Takao, 426m. It's really impressive how wild is this place, with the downtown only few minutes away ! If you too you want to go there get prepared to fight with brambles, swamps, and a very slippery sandy ground. I came back with bloody legs covered with mud :-) . You will have some rocks to climb on the top, and I recommend a certain sens of direction as pathway sometimes disappears under vegetation. There is snakes too, and I found signs of deers or boars, but have seen none of them. From the top, the view leaves you breathless, even more than the one from Mount Chausu, in my personal opinion.
Ok, now it's your turn to give me some advice of new places to explore ! ;-)
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Summary only...
On the way back to the city going downhill, you will see old houses along the alleys that attract a number of Japan's more famous authors and movie directors. There is also a movie museum in the city. Although there is no English guidances in the museum as well as all over the city. It might be a unexpected fun to travel a very local place in Japan.
