Why this ride
curated scenic road. rolling fields, flower farms, Daisetsuzan views. From Asahikawa it runs 66 km to Shimo-furano; allow about 1 h of riding. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hokkaido Patchwork Road
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 66 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 14
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Hokkaido Patchwork Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 22 km this is Hokkaido Patchwork Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 22 km
- Named road
- Hokkaido Patchwork Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Asahikawa
It has around three hundred and fifty thousand people, a long, cold winter and a reputation for ramen, furniture and sake. The city sits at the confluence of several rivers, and its wide streets and big sky have a frontier feel that suits the island.
Read the complete Asahikawa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hokkaido Patchwork Road point 1 sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Hokkaido Patchwork Road point 2.
2. Hokkaido Patchwork Road point 2
Around Biei the land does something you rarely see in Japan: it opens up. Instead of tight valleys and forested slopes, there are long, soft hills covered in fields, each a different colour depending on the crop, wheat, potatoes, buckwheat, beans, sugar beet, so that from any rise the landscape looks like a quilt laid over a sleeping body. That is the Patchwork Road, a loose network of farm lanes north and west of Biei town, with Asahikawa a little over twenty kilometres away and the Tokachi volcanoes standing to the south-east.
Read the complete Hokkaido Patchwork Road point 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hokkaido Patchwork Road point 2 comes up 18 km in. Next is Hokkaido Patchwork Road point 3.
3. Hokkaido Patchwork Road point 3
A little west of Biei, the hills lean towards the Asahikawa basin and the views stretch further. From the tops of the farm roads here you can look back across the patchwork to the Tokachi range, a line of volcanic peaks, the most active of them Tokachi-dake, which often trails a thin plume of steam. In June and July the slopes still carry streaks of snow, and in the evening light the whole range turns pink while the fields below go dark.
Read the complete Hokkaido Patchwork Road point 3 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
37 km in you reach Hokkaido Patchwork Road point 3. Next is Hokkaido Patchwork Road point 4.
4. Shimo-furano
Furano sits in a long, flat valley in the middle of Hokkaido, with the Tokachi range rising to the east and the Yūbari mountains to the west, and the town calls itself the island's navel. It even holds a summer festival in honour of the claim, with residents painting faces on their bellies and dancing through the streets. That sense of humour suits the place: Furano is a friendly, relaxed farming town that has become one of Hokkaido's best-loved destinations without losing its everyday character.
Read the complete Shimo-furano write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hokkaido Patchwork Road point 4, late in the day.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Hokkaido Patchwork Road (117 km) · 62 km
- Furano and Biei Panorama Loop · 111 km
- Sapporo day out · Kitakogane Site · 355 km
- Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles and Ofune Site · 562 km