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.
A 207 km round trip from Fujiyoshida - roughly 3 h 32 in the saddle. On the way it passes Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine, Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine, Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove and back through Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 900 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. Lakes are the scenery here.
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 25 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
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 is where the day begins. 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.
Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine.
Fuji does not need an introduction, but the shrines around its foot deserve one. Yamamiya Sengen-jinja stands on the southwest side of the mountain at the edge of Fujinomiya, in Shizuoka Prefecture, and it is one of the old shrines dedicated to Konohanasakuya-hime, the blossoming princess who is the deity of Mount Fuji, and her cult spread to the whole country as the Sengen shrines. The Yamamiya precinct is a calm, cedar-shaded compound where the mountain presides from behind, and the main buildings stand in the old Edo-period style, with dark wood and copper roofing, and the mood of a place that has served pilgrims for centuries.
Read the complete Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 56 km into the recorded legs you reach Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine. Next is Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove.
Miho is a thin hook of land curling out into Suruga Bay, and Mihonomatsubara is the pine grove that covers it: tens of thousands of dark pines behind a long beach of grey, pebbly sand. People come for the view. On a clear day Mount Fuji sits on the other side of the bay, framed by the trees and the curve of the shore, and that image has been painted, printed and photographed for centuries. It is why the grove was included in the UNESCO listing for Fuji in 2013, as an artistic setting for the mountain rather than as a piece of nature in itself.
Read the complete Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove, about halfway. Next is back through Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine sits at 127 km, about halfway. Next is back through Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine comes up about 175 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
Lake Yamanakako closes the day.
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 → Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine → Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove → back through Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Yamamiya Sengen-jinja Shrine → back through Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine → Lake Yamanakako is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.