Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - Ô and Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
327 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 16
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.
From Tanabe it runs 327 km to Tanabe; allow about 4 h 16 of riding. The stops in between: Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N, Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha, Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki and Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - Ô
The Kii Peninsula, south of Osaka, is one of the most heavily forested and least populated parts of Japan, a knot of steep, cedar-covered mountains that has been a place of pilgrimage for more than a thousand years. The pilgrimage routes of Kumano, called the Kumano Kodo, were inscribed by UNESCO in 2004 together with the sacred sites of Koyasan and Yoshino and Omine, and the Ohechi route is the long mountain branch that starts near Tanabe, on the coast, about eleven kilometres from the point on your map.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - Ô 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha.
3. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 59 km into the recorded legs you reach Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha. Next is Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki.
4. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki, about halfway. Next is Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the.
5. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 267 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha. Next is back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N.
8. back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 327 km.
Leg by leg
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - Ô to Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - Ô → Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N to Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N → Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha to Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki
Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha → Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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 back through Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki
Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the → back through Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki to back through Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha
back through Kumano Sanzan - Nachi no Ôtaki → back through Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha to back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N
back through Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha → back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N to Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - Ô
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - N → Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - Ô is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.