Hiking at Kikuchi Gorge in autumn

5 November 2024

Kikuchi Gorge (also known as Kikuchi Keikoku) is a 4 km long gorge located in the north-eastern part of Aso Kuju National Park. The fresh water in the Kikuchi River that meanders through the forest forms powerful rapids, deep blue pools, and plunging waterfalls. This gorge is perfect for nature lovers, photographers and hikers. It is blessed with scenic views of waterfall, blue pools, cool temperature and easy hiking paths. It is also a good spot to view the autumn foliage in Kyushu. Kikuchi Gorge is especially beautiful during the fall foliage season, when the area is covered in a carpet of colorful leaves.   

Getting to the Kikuchi Gorge is difficult by public transport. By car, it took us about 40 minutes to get to the gorge from Nabegataki Falls which was another outstanding place for nature lovers, fans of waterfalls and photographers.

Our plan for the day was to see Nabegataki Falls, hike at Kikuchi Gorge and then take the scenic Kikuchi Aso Skyline (Highway 45) up to the northern rim of the Aso caldera for the dramatic views from Daikanbo before descending into the caldera itself. Our accommodation for the night would be in Aso city.

We actually drove part of the Kikuchi Aso Skyine highway to get to Kikuchi Gorge from Nabegataki Falls but we did not make any stops since we knew we would be driving back up this way.

We parked at the car park (location here) about 200 metres away past the entrance to the gorge. The car park fee was 200 yen for our small car. There is a newly built washroom facilities. From the car park, it was a slight uphill walk along the sidewalk back to the entrance. Entrance fee to the gorge was 100 yen per person. It will be used for maintenance of the trail.

We went to Kikuchi Valley Visitor Center for coffee and ate our Snickers bar for the energy needed to do the morning hike. There are very clean and well maintained toilets at the visitor center as well.

Map of Kikuchi Gorge showing the routes and highlights to look out for.      

There are two routes to follow: a 30 minute and a 60 minute loop along the river bank and back down the other side. Both routes start after we crossed the red bridge.

Hydroelectric power weir and the red bridge we had to cross to start our hike.

We chose to do the longer 2 km route to fully experience Kikuchi Gorge. The trail is not difficult, going up slightly as we moved upriver. In autumn, the weather was nice and cool and felt like natural air-conditioning. 

First part of the trail. The rest of the trail going upriver is quite similar.

The first part of the trail passes through Shin Shikoku or Hill of 88 Stone Buddhas. We spotted only one of the stone Buddhas.

Stone Buddha covered in moss.

The trail followed the river closely. There were many photo opportunities since the  flowing rapids over moss covered boulders was so pretty. I took some long exposure shots of the rapids from the side of the trail.

Kikuchi Gorge offered many photo opportunities.

One of the many rapids on the river.

Long exposure shot of the water flowing over the moss covered boulders.

Further up, we came across a pool with some of the clearest and bluest water I had seen. We could hear the sound of the first waterfall which is Reimei Falls.

Pool with some of the clearest and bluest water.

"reimei," means dawn. Reimei Falls gets its name from the spray from the falls which resembles the mist at dawn. We came too late to see any mist in the gorge.

Information board explaining the name of Reimei Falls. There were many such boards along the trail.

Reimei Falls on the top. It further cascade down into the blue pool below.          

It is possible to walk quite close to the edge of the cliff to feel the roar of the water.

Slightly past the top of Reimei Falls is a place called Momiji-gase. The place is named after the many maple trees that grow on both sides of the river. There are footpaths from the main trails on both sides of the river that lead down to the water’s edge.

This is an ideal place to experience the autumn leaves in the gorge from late October to mid-November. Unfortunately, the weather in Kyushu (and the whole world in fact!) had been warmer than usual. As a result, the timing for the peak autumn foliage had been delayed by a few weeks. I read that even the first snowfall on top of Mount Fuji had been delayed this year. Mount Fuji usually has a cap of snow by early October. But this year, the first snowfall was on November 6, making this year's snowcap the latest to form since 1894 when records started.

Momijigase would have been stunning with red and yellow autumn leaves.

Long exposure shot of the boulders and water flowing.

The next waterfall we saw was the Tengu Falls. The 8 meters high Tengu Falls is one of the largest and loudest waterfalls in Kikuchi Gorge with water crashing on boulders before collecting in the Ryugabuchi Pool below.  

View of Tengu Falls and Ryugabuchi pool from the bridge.

A bridge over the pool offers an unobstructed view of the falls. This is also the bridge for hikers on the shorter route to cross the river and return to the entrance.

View from the bridge of the river flowing down the valley. So green and tranquil.

Long exposure photo of the flowing water.

Since we were taking the longer route, we did not cross this bridge but continued our hike upriver to the Yonjusanman (“Four hundred and thirty thousand”) Falls.  

Yonjusanman Falls

A signboard indicated that the average amount of water flowing through this waterfall in a single day is 430,000 koku (equivalent to 78,000 tons), hence the name.

Further uphill from Yonjusanman Falls, we saw the towering Hogan Keyaki, a zelkova (keyaki) tree that grows on top of a massive boulder. The roots of the tree hugged the boulder like tentacles. Apparently, the boulder used to be underground. Erosion has washed away the soil around it to reveal the roots of the tree and the bare boulder.

Hogan Keyaki, a zelkova (keyaki) tree that grows on top of a massive boulder.

We came to a large clearing with flat rocks and a wide section of the river where the water is shallow and flows relatively slowly. This area is known as Hirokawara was a good place to take a rest. It was also a good place to feel the river water which was icy cold.

Resting on the rocks by the river.

View at Hirokawara.

A bridge leads over the river to the trail that will return to the entrance of the gorge.

The second bridge is the furthest we would go on the longer route.

View from the second bridge.

The return path has rock cliffs on our left and the river on our right. There were signs warning of risk of falling rocks so we did a brisk walk. The return path towards the entrance was gently sloping downwards, making it much faster to return to the entrance.

On the return path to the entrance of Kikuchi Gorge.

Overall, we spent about 2 hours at the gorge including time for photos and rest. From the gorge, we drove back up the scenic Kikuchi Aso Skyline (Highway 45) up to the northern rim of the Aso caldera. I felt it was worth the detour to do the short easy hike at this beautiful place. My only regret was that we missed seeing the peak autumn leaves at this spot.