Nita Pass

Scenic Area with Ropeway

In Unzen Onsen area, there is a great scenic spot called Nita Pass, which is at the lower part of a ropeway to another view point. You can pay to take the ropeway both ways or just walk it in about 25 minutes along the trail, and at the top there is a view of the smoking volcano. There are several other hiking trails, including going all the way up to Fugen Dake. (The photo of the Toori is the entrance to that trail.) Nita Pass is not accessible by bus except for a shared taxi service, by reservation only, three times a day. Most people use a car. We used the trail called Unzen Nita Touge Junkan Douro (雲仙仁田峠循環道路) to walk up from Unzen Onsen which took around an hour and a half (7.6 km according to Google Maps). The way down is much easier. In May there are bright pink azaleas, but we went in March. There is also a nice view of autumn leaves in late October-November from what I read. Along the lower part of the trail there are several parking lots and hiroba so it would be nice to bring kids to play or have picnics. Signs are all in Japanese only from what I remember.