I was so touched beyond words! We took a trekking & hot spa tour at Mt. Tarumae not so far from Sapporo.I was refreshed and relieved of daily stress in the great view with fresh air.This bus company is pretty famous in Hokkaido, dealing with various interesting transportation & unique tours. They also have English speakers, no worry for communication! You should call and ask them! I’m sure you’ll get 100% of satisfaction!
Bonasa
Of the several hikes that we did in Hokkaido, this was perhaps the easiest and still one of the most impressive. We did not have a car and were staying in Sapporo, so we booked a day hike through Hokkaido Experience. Because we were the only people booked, we had a private trip with two guides and a driver for Y20,000 (total). The hike is straight up, but on a well maintained trail that is easy to follow and with spectacular views back down to Lake Shikotsu. Once at the top, you see the impressive lava dome and then there are a series of ridge trails. We followed along part of it to a shrine, had some lunch, took lots of photos and then headed back down so that we could go to one of the local onsens before driving back to Sapporo. It was a perfect day trip and I highly recommend it.
SmileyPic
(July-2014) Too bad, nature caught me in bad timing, no way I could trek, besides, we did not have proper trekking gadgets. I was just thinking of taking a short walk up to see panoama view. Do check weather carefully, looks like a nice nature trekking. Public toilet at the parking area has bees and insects flying around, be careful. No paper is available. Not sure whether if it was because of season or not, but do watch out. We think it is better to spare about 4-5 hours for this outing. Be sure to bring along snacks, food and drink. Parking is limited and tends to get a queue on weekend. It seems fine to park at 5th level where space is available but walk up the untarred road, takes 40 minutes. I saw a family of 5 including a child, less than 7 years old going on the trek also. :-) Should be nice day out with proper gadgets.
DougC53
We visited on a weekday afternoon and there were few other walkers. The usual bear warnings apply in this area. The climb to the crater is initially in thick vegetation but opens up and provides splendid views of the surrounding landscape and the volcano itself. The track requires a good degree of fitness and sturdy footwear (track is stony in parts). We used a hire car to get to Mt Tarumae.N.B. Mt Tarumae is an active volcano and the road into the car park is unmade.