Why this ride
On the way it passes Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N, Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji, Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji and Horyu-ji Area. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha and Horyu-ji Area
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 445 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 14
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha
Deep in the mountains of the Kii Peninsula, where forested ridges fold one behind another like the scenery in a woodblock print, stands the head shrine of the Kumano faith. Kumano Hongū Taisha is one of the three grand shrines of Kumano, and for over a thousand years emperors, aristocrats and ordinary pilgrims have walked here along the network of mountain trails known as the Kumano Kodō, now part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range listed by UNESCO.
Read the complete Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha is where the day begins. Next is Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N.
2. Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N
The Kumano Kodō is a web of ancient pilgrimage trails across the mountains of the Kii Peninsula, south of Osaka, leading to the three grand shrines of Kumano: Hongū, Hayatama and Nachi. For over a thousand years, emperors, aristocrats and ordinary pilgrims walked these paths through cedar and cypress forest, stopping at small subsidiary shrines along the way. The Nakahechi, the most popular of the routes, leaves the coast near Tanabe and climbs inland through the hills. It is part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, listed by UNESCO in 2004, one of only two pilgrimage routes on the list along with the Camino de Santiago, with which it is twinned.
Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji.
3. Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji
Getting to Kōyasan feels like a pilgrimage even on a motorcycle. The roads climb out of the Kinokawa valley through dense cedar forest, switchback after switchback, until you emerge onto a high basin at around eight hundred metres where a whole town of temples has grown up. The monk Kūkai, known after his death as Kōbō Daishi, founded the monastery here in the early ninth century as the centre of Shingon Buddhism, and Kongōbu-ji is the head temple of the sect. Its halls, painted sliding doors and the large rock garden are worth an unhurried visit, and the whole mountain is part of the UNESCO listing of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 120 km into the recorded legs you reach Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji. Next is Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji.
4. Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji
Every April, the hillsides of Yoshino turn pink and white as tens of thousands of cherry trees burst into bloom, and the narrow ridge-top town fills with visitors who come to see one of Japan's most famous blossom displays. But Yoshino is more than a flower show. It is the heart of Shugendō, a mountain religion that blends Buddhism, Shinto and ancient nature worship, and the Kimpusen-ji temple, with its enormous wooden main hall, the Zaō-dō, is its spiritual centre. The temple is part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, listed by UNESCO in 2004.
Read the complete Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji, about halfway. Next is Horyu-ji Area.
5. Hōryū-ji Area
The buildings at Hōryū-ji are around thirteen hundred years old, and some of them are among the oldest wooden structures anywhere in the world. Founded in the early seventh century by Prince Shōtoku, a regent remembered as a champion of Buddhism and a founding figure of the Japanese state, the temple was rebuilt after a fire later in the same century, and parts of that rebuilding still stand. In 1993 it became one of the first sites in Japan to be listed by UNESCO, as the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area.
Read the complete Horyu-ji Area write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hōryū-ji Area sits at 183 km, about halfway. Next is back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji.
6. back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji comes up about 266 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji.
7. back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 324 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji. Next is back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N.
8. back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N, late in the day. Next is Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha.
9. Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 445 km.
Leg by leg
Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha to Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N
Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha → Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N to Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N → Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji to Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji
Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji → Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji to Horyu-ji Area
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji → Horyu-ji Area is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hōryū-ji Area to back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji
Hōryū-ji Area → back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji to back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji
back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji → back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji to back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N
back through Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji → back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N to Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N → Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.