Shingū sits where the Kumano River meets the Pacific, and Hayatama Taisha stands in the middle of the town, a vermilion shrine among tall trees, so close to the ordinary streets that it feels like part of daily life. It is one of the three grand shrines of Kumano, and the legend of its founding is tied to a great rock above the town, Gotobiki-iwa, where the deity is said to have descended before moving to the shrine below. The rock is reached by a steep stone stairway through the woods and the view from it is wide and quiet.
In the shrine's grounds stands an old tree, a Nagi, said to be nearly a thousand years old, and sacred to pilgrims who carry its leaf as an amulet. The three-legged crow, Yatagarasu, the divine guide who showed the first emperor the way through the Kii mountains, appears on charms and flags everywhere here, and also on the badge of the Japanese national football team, which is a useful fact for football fans. The stone paths and the cedar forest make a walk of twenty minutes feel older than it is.
Shingū is a town of around thirty thousand, so it has fuel, supermarkets and a few good restaurants, and it is the natural base for the area. The riding is excellent in and out of town. Upstream the Kumano River twists through a deep forested valley, past the gorge of Dorokyō, where jet boats run in summer, and over the passes toward Hongū and the high country. Roads in the mountains are narrow, with tight bends, shaded surfaces that stay damp and wet leaves in autumn, so be careful on corners and expect rockfall after storms. Traffic is light except at holiday times.
The Kii mountains are an old region of faith, where Buddhism, Shinto and mountain asceticism blended, and the pilgrim routes were walked by emperors and commoners alike for a thousand years. That mixture is why UNESCO treats the whole area as a sacred landscape, with the trails, shrines and temples listed together. Come in spring or autumn, bring rain gear whatever the forecast, and leave time for a slow lunch. The mountains are better after you have eaten.