Shin-etsu Trail

Via Public Transportation

Access to the Trailheads

Section	Trailhead		How to get to the trailhead
Section	Start	Finish	How to get to the trailhead
SEC.1	Mt. Madarao	Aka Ike pond	From Iiyama Station, take the Madarao Line municipal bus; exit at Madarao Kogen Hotel. Bus fee 500 yen, travel time approx. 30 minutes. The trailhead at Resthouse Tyrol is 10 minutes from the Madarao Kogen Hotel on foot. Private cars can park at Resthouse Tyrol; call the Shin-etsu Trail Club in advance.
SEC.2	Aka Ike pond	Wakui	There is no public transportation service to Aka Ike; from Iiyama Station, take a roughly 50-minute taxi ride, which will cost approximately ¥6,700; from Myōkōkōgen Station, a taxi will take 30 minutes and cost approx. ¥6,000. Private cars can park free at Aka Ike.
SEC.3	Wakui	Hotoke ga Mine Tozanguchi	There is no public transportation service to Wakui; from Iiyama Station, take a taxi. This will take about 20 minutes, and cost approx. ¥3,800; from Arai Station on the Echigo Tokimeki Railway, it takes about 40 minutes and costs roughly ¥8,000. Private cars can park free at Wakui.
SEC.4	Hotoke ga Mine Tozanguchi	Sekida Toge pass	There is no public transportation service to Togari Onsen Ski Resort; take a train to Togari Nozawa Onsen Station; exit and get a taxi. The trip will take about 15 minutes and cost approximately ¥2,000. Private cars can park free at the parking lot at Tondaira slope, Togari Onsen Ski Resort.
SEC.5	Sekida Toge pass	Busuno Toge pass	There is no public transportation service to Sekida Tōge pass. From Togari Nozawa Onsen Station take a taxi; this will take about 40 minutes and cost approximately ¥6,000. From Arai Station on the Echigo Tokimeki Railway, a taxi will take about 50 minutes and cost approx. ¥8,000. Private cars can park free at the parking lot at Sekida Tōge pass.
SEC.6	Busuno Toge pass	Mt. Amamizu	There is no public transportation service to Busuno Tōge pass; from Togari-Nozawaonsen Station, a taxi will take about 50 minutes and cost approx. ¥8,000; from Mushikawa-Ōsugi Station on the Hokuhoku Line, the taxi will take about 50 minutes and cost approx. ¥9,000. Private cars can park free at the parking lot at Busuno Tōge pass.
SEC.7	Mt. Amamizu	Mori-Miyanohara Station	Take the Iiyama Line to Mori-Miyanohara Station, then a taxi to the Matsunoyamaguchi trailhead for Mt. Amamizu. This will take about 25 minutes, and cost approximately ¥4,400. From Matsudai Station on the Hokuhoku Line, a taxi will take about 40 minutes, and cost approx. ¥7,000. Private cars can park free at the parking lot at atsunoyama-guchi trailhead.
SEC.8	Mori-Miyanohara Station	Ketto	Mori-Miyanohara Station is on the Iiyama Line out of Nagano City, so it's very easy to access from the Hokuriku Shinkansen (transferring at Iiyama Station), or other lines connecting to the Iiyama Line. Private cars can park at the lot in front of Mori-Miyanohara Station (contact the Kizuna visitor center in advance: 0269-87-2200).
SEC.9	Ketto	Koakasawa	This is a remote area, so access by public transportation is rather complicated: from Tsunan Station on the Iiyama Line, take the local Shikawatari Shinden Line bus and get off at the Jinbashita Chuo stop, about four minutes away; fee ¥160. Then walk to the Tsunan Yakubamae (Tsunan City Office) stop, about 160 meters along National Route 117. Get on the Midama Line bus, exiting after about 20 minutes at the Midama bus stop (¥340 fee). Then get on a “Demand Taxi” (reservation required by 5pm the previous day; Morimiya Kōtsū, 0269-87-3100) and go to Kettō, about 15 minutes and ¥300. Private cars may park at the Katakuri no Yado inn (call in advance).
SEC.10	Koakasawa	Mt. Naeba	As for Section 9: from Tsunan Station on the Iiyama Line, take the local Shikawatari Shinden Line bus and get off at the Jinbashita Chuo stop, about four minutes away; fee ¥160. Then walk to the Tsunan Yakubamae (Tsunan City Office) stop, about 160 meters along National Route 117. Get on the Midama Line bus, exiting after about 20 minutes at the Midama bus stop (¥340 fee). Then get on a “Demand Taxi” (reservation required by 5pm the previous day; Morimiya Kōtsū, 0269-87-3100) and go to Koakasawa, about 35 minutes and ¥300. Private cars may park at Tonenbo, the Akiyama-gō Information Center (call Tonenbo in advance, 025-767-2202).

*The roads accessing the Shin-etsu Trail are closed annually from the beginning of November until early June.
Road closure information can be found here.