Hikes in Japan: The Mt. Tobio Trail (鳶尾山)

BASIC INFORMATION

• Name: Mt. Tobio Trail (鳶尾山)
• Location: Atsugi, Japan
• Distance: 2.4 miles (3.8 km)
• Max Elevation: 770 feet (234 m)
• Elevation Gain: 809 feet (246 m)
• Time: 1-2 hours
• Difficulty: Moderate
• More Information: 30 Day Hikes Near Tokyo

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Directions

The trailhead for Mt. Tobio Trail begins at Tenrandai Park in a nice neighborhood in Atsugi.  There is no nearby train station, but there is a bus stop near the park.  The easiest way to access the park is by driving there.

Parking

There is a small dirt parking lot located nearly adjacent to Tenrandai Park.  It costs 500 yen ($5) a day to park there.

Narrative

On a recent weekend I decided to try out an easy hike up one of the small hills at the base of the Tanzawa Range just outside of Tokyo.  The hill is called Mt. Tobio and is located on the outskirts of the city of Atsugi.  Something that makes this trail popular in the area is the fact it has a large observation tower on top of Mt. Tobio that provides a view mostly unobstructed by trees.  After making the easy drive over to Atsugi, I parked in a dirt lot near Tenrandai Park where the trailhead is located.  The park is very small with a slide for the kids to play on:

The trailhead for the Mt. Tobio hike is marked by a large signboard that shows the trail:

The trailhead also has another sign that warns hikers not to give food, stare, or touch any monkeys they may see:

After checking out the signs I then proceeded to head up the long stretch of stairs that starts this hike:

The stairs makes for a good workout to start this hike because it immediately gains most of the elevation for this trail.  The end of the staircase is marked with a tori gate:

The trail then becomes a simple walk through the woods:

Along the way there are a few intersecting trails, but I continued to follow the main trail which also has signs pointing out which way to go:

Another sign I was surprised to see was one that said to not hunt with any guns on Mt. Tobio.  I cannot image anyone hunting with a gun in any hills around the Tokyo region due to the high concentration of hikers:

The short section of trail ended at another tori gate where I then had to ascend another staircase:

Fortunately this staircase was fairly short and ended at a small shinto shrine:

From the shrine it was a short walk to the Mt. Tobio Observation Tower:

I was actually pretty impressed because the tower did rise up to an impressive height above the tree line:

I had a great view overlooking the Atsugi and Zama regions of the Kanto plain to the east:

Far off in the distance I could even see the high rise buildings in Tokyo to include the Sky Tree tower:

In the distance to the Southeast I could see the hills of Kamakura which I have had previous hiking adventures at:

Looking south I could see Oshima Island, which is an active volcano rising out of the ocean:

The only part of the view that was obscured by trees was in the direction of the Tanzawa mountains.  I did have a partial view of Mt. Oyama that I had previously hiked up:

You can read about my hike up Mt. Oyama at the below link:

Hikes in Japan: The Mt. Oyama Trail (大山)

Here is a panorama picture of the view looking towards the Kanto Plain from the Mt. Tobio Observation Tower:

After spending about 20 minutes taking in the views from the observation tower, I then descended and checked out a memorial adjacent to the tower.  Since it was in kanji I could not read it:

Next to the memorial the trail continues along the ridgeline to the true summit of Mt. Tobio:

The trail descends down towards a construction area sealed off with a fence:

After the construction area the trail began to ascend up the ridgeline again:

The trail is easy follow and continued to have signs to mark the way:

When I reached the summit of Mt. Tobio I found it marked with these memorial markers:

The summit also had a small bench with an information marker:

I am not sure what the signs says, but it appears that Mt. Tobio was once used as a survey marker in the region by the Imperial Japanese Army:

Adjacent to the sign was this survey marker:

The views from the summit were mostly obscured by trees, but I did have view looking northeast where I could see the Sagamihara area outside of Tokyo:

I also had a partial view looking towards Atsugi:

I also had a nice view of the rolling hills stretching north towards where the popular hiking trails of Mt. Takao are located:

After spending about 15 minutes taking in the views I then turned around and retraced my steps back to the trailhead.  It was an easy walk of just over a mile to the trailhead:

Conclusion

The hike up to the summit of Mt. Tobio is an easy, family friendly 2.4 mile walk.  The hardest part is the very beginning ascending up the steep staircase.  This walk can be made shorter by only hiking up to the observation tower and taking in the sweeping views from there.  For anyone living in the Atsugi or Zama areas outside of Tokyo, this short walk is definitely worth checking out.