Daisetsuzan Foothills 5 Day Cycling Tour

The group will meet up at Asahikawa Station at 9:30 am this morning. After getting to know each other and setting up our bikes, we’ll get in the saddle and head out of town on a cycling road along the Chubetsu river. The cycling road will allow us to avoid midcity traffic and enjoy wonderful views of the river as we go. The very gradual incline as we head upstream makes for a nice warm-up as we head out of town.

In the afternoon, we will take the back roads into the famed “patchwork hills” of Biei. The constant up and down of rolling hills will give us a good workout, but the ever-changing scenery is a fitting reward.

We’ll end the day at a hotel in central Biei. To celebrate our first day of cycling together, we’ll have dinner at a local restaurant before relaxing for the night.

After breakfast, we’ll hop back on our bikes and take a forested road out to the north of Biei. After a few short climbs to get our blood flowing, we top out on a plateau with great views towards Mt. Asahidake, Hokkaido’s tallest peak. From the plateau we descend to Higashikawa, a farming town on the edge of Daisetsuzan National park where we will take a break for lunch.

After eating, we’ll head to Lake Chubetsu, a manmade dam lake surrounded by gorgeous sub-mountainous forests. In spring, fresh greens of various shades pop here and there while in autumn, red leaves reflect on the lake’s waters. After enjoying views of the lake, we’ll make a special stop at Daisetsuzan Gensui Park at the lake’s far end. “Gensui” means “water’s origin” in Japanese and this name comes from the fresh-flowing spring water that can be found here, gushing directly down from Mt. Asahidake.

We’ll cycle around the other side of Lake Chubetsu on our way to Higashikagura, where we’ll stay for tonight. Dinner will be served at our accommodation, which also has natural hot spring baths, fed by the waters of Daisetsuzan National Park. They are the perfect cure for sore muscles and buttocks after a long day of cycling, so relax and rest up ahead of our final full day of cycling tomorrow!

After breakfast at our accommodation (and one last morning dip in the hot springs if you would like) we’ll head out for another day in the saddle. Today is the longest distance-wise, but with less climbing it won’t feel that much more challenging - so relax and enjoy the ride!

We’ll make our way from Higashikagura up to Toma, skirting the edge of Asahikawa. The forested lands around us will transition soon enough to vast, flat rice paddy plains as we cycle through Higashikawa town and then through to Toma. You will find the farmland scenery here, with plentiful water thanks to nearby Mt. Asahidake, is quite different from what we will have seen in Biei, where the topography does not make the region suited for growing rice.

From Toma, we’ll continue to head through farmland until we pick up the Ishikari River, the third-longest river in Japan and the longest in Hokkaido. We’ll follow the river to Pippu, a little-known town famous for its juicy strawberries and equally juicy trout!

We’ll cycle through Pippu to our accommodation at the base of Mt. Hokurei. Dinner will be served here tonight and of course, there is another opportunity to enjoy some natural hot spring baths tonight!

Our journey comes full circle today as we return to Asahikawa. We’ll cycle through Pippu and around the outskirts of Asahikawa, enjoying a relaxing flat ride through the largest scale rice farming we’ll see on this tour. Depending on the season, you may want to keep an eye out for some particularly eye-catching rice paddies…

We’ll take a break at a local restaurant to enjoy lunch before we’ll cycle back into Asahikawa via the pleasant district of Takasu on its northern side, taking a break at Mt. Arashiyama to explore cise, traditional Ainu dwellings. This mountain and its surroundings were and still are an important site for the region’s Ainu population, home to plants and trees used in Ainu cuisine or crafts.

One last push from Arashiyama will bring us back along the Ishikari River to its junction with the Biei river at Asahikawa Station.

Tonight, we'll gather for one final celebration together over dinner, sharing stories from our cycling journey through the Daisetsuzan foothills and toasting to the memories we've made exploring this beautiful corner of Hokkaido.

The tour will wrap up after breakfast. Our hotel is conveniently located near JR Asahikawa Station, from where you can take a train to Sapporo, as well as the airport shuttle to Asahikawa Airport. Make sure you haven’t left anything behind and have a safe onward journey!