CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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.
99 km from Fujikawaguchiko to Fujikawaguchiko, about 2 h 10 of riding. It goes by way of Lake Yamanakako, Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine and back through Lake Yamanakako. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 21 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
There is a good argument that this is the most atmospheric shrine at the foot of Mount Fuji, and it has nothing to do with the view. Omuro Sengen-jinja stands in a grove of huge old cedars on the northern side, close to the lake town of Kawaguchiko, and the trees are so tall and so quiet that the sound of the road disappears within a few steps of the torii. The shrine is attached to the cult of Fuji itself, the idea that the mountain is a goddess to be placated, and it is part of the World Heritage listing for Fujisan as a sacred place and not simply a pretty one.
Read the complete Fuji Omuro Segen-jinja Shrine write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fuji Omuro Segen-jinja Shrine is where the day begins. Next is Lake Yamanakako.
Yamanakako is the largest and highest of the Fuji Five Lakes, lying at nearly a thousand metres at the eastern foot of Mount Fuji, and on a clear winter morning, with the snow cone of the mountain mirrored in still water, it delivers the view that sells a million postcards. The lake was formed when lava flows from Fuji dammed the valley, and it is shallow, with reed beds, swans and boating piers along the shore. In summer it is a cool escape from the heat of Tokyo, busy with families, rowing boats and lakeside cafés; in winter the crowds thin and the mountain is at its most impressive.
Read the complete Lake Yamanakako write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Lake Yamanakako comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine.
On the southern flank of Mount Fuji, above the town of Susono, a quiet shrine stands among tall cedar trees at the start of one of the oldest climbing routes on the mountain. The Suyama Sengen-jinja is dedicated to the goddess of Fuji and marks the beginning of the Suyama trail, used by pilgrims for centuries before falling into disuse in the twentieth century and being partly revived in recent years. It is one of the component sites of Fujisan, Sacred Place and Source of Artistic Inspiration, listed by UNESCO in 2013.
Read the complete Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine. Next is back through Lake Yamanakako.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lake Yamanakako write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Lake Yamanakako, late in the day. Next is Fuji Omuro Segen-jinja Shrine.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fuji Omuro Segen-jinja Shrine write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Fuji Omuro Segen-jinja Shrine. That is the ride.
Fuji Omuro Segen-jinja Shrine → Lake Yamanakako is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lake Yamanakako → Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine → back through Lake Yamanakako is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Lake Yamanakako → Fuji Omuro Segen-jinja Shrine is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.