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 204 km round trip from Fujiyoshida - roughly 3 h 29 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. The line favours views over speed.
Eight ponds, one hundred yards from the road, and every one of them clear enough to count the pebbles. Oshino Hakkai takes its water from the snow and rain of Mount Fuji, which sinks into the porous volcanic rock of the mountain and takes decades to filter down, so the springs that emerge in the village of Oshino are astonishingly pure and cold. The water holds close to a constant temperature all year, so in winter mist rises from the ponds, and in summer they feel like cool air-conditioning. Carp and trout drift through the plants, water wheels turn quietly, and thatched houses stand behind the ponds, though these days they hold shops selling pickles, soba noodles and sweets.
Read the complete Oshino Hakkai springs write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Oshino Hakkai springs 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 30 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 55 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 133 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 174 km into the recorded legs. Next is Oshino Hakkai springs.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Oshino Hakkai springs write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Oshino Hakkai springs closes the day.
Oshino Hakkai springs → Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine is 30 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 → Oshino Hakkai springs is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.