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Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki and Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
334 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 02
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.

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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

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Why this ride

334 km from Shingū to Shingū, about 5 h 02 of riding. It goes by way of Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the, Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N, Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K and back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki

    Water falls a hundred and thirty-three metres in a single drop at Nachi, the highest single fall in Japan, and it is not just a scenic attraction but a god. The Nachi no Ōtaki has been worshipped since long before the shrines were built, as a place where a kami lives, and the Kumano Nachi Taisha, a vermilion shrine on the hillside, was set up to honour it. Next door, the Buddhist temple of Seiganto-ji, with its three-storey pagoda in front of the falls, is one of the most photographed views in Japan, and shows how the two religions lived side by side.

    Read the complete Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki is where the day begins. Next is Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the.

  2. 2. Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the

    The Kumano Kodō, the ancient pilgrimage routes, link it with two other great shrines, Hayatama in Shingū and Nachi with its tall waterfall, and with the sacred mountains of Kōyasan and Yoshino further north. UNESCO listed the whole network in 2004 as one of only two pilgrimage routes on its register, the other being the road to Santiago de Compostela.

    Read the complete Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the comes up about 52 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N.

  3. 3. 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

    about 88 km into the recorded legs you reach Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N. Next is Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K.

  4. 4. Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K

    Mount Kōya is one of Japan's great sacred places, a high basin in the mountains of northern Wakayama where the monk Kūkai founded a monastic centre for Shingon Buddhism in the early ninth century. Today it is a town of over a hundred temples, many of which take in overnight guests, set among towering cedars. South of the summit plateau, deep in the forested ridges, run the old pilgrim trails that link Kōya with the Kumano shrines, part of the network inscribed by UNESCO as the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.

    Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K 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 - K, about halfway. Next is back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N.

  5. 5. 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 sits at 149 km, about halfway. Next is back through Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the.

  6. 6. back through Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the comes up about 282 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki.

  7. 7. Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki closes the day.

Leg by leg

Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki to Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the

Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki → Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the to Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the → 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 Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K

Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N → Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K is 79 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K to back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N

Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K → back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N to back through Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the

back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N → back through Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the to Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki

back through Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the → Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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