Tohoku – Autumn’s First Snow – Oirase Gorge, Lake Towada
7-8 Nov 2024. A week had passed since the peak of autumn. To catch the remaining autumn colours, we quickly made our way to Tohoku’s highlight, Oirase Gorge.
This natural river valley spans 14km and contains numerous beautiful crystal-clear streams, cascading waterfalls, and lush forests.
Typically one can hike the entirety of the stream in about 4-6h and enjoy the vibrant fall foliage, moss-covered rocks and trees that create a fairytale-like, peaceful and serene environment, but those with mobility limitations or young families (like us!) could always take the bus or drive to the various stopping points to do smaller and more relaxing walks/hikes covering smaller chunks of the Oirase Gorge.
Thankfully a decent amount of autumn colours remained at Oirase Gorge and we were blessed with the first snow of the season which gave us autumn coloured photos and videos dusted with bits of white snow.
We moved on to Lake Towada (Towadoko) which is the largest inland caldera in Honshu. Calderas are large, cauldron-shaped depression formed by the collapse of a volcano’s summit or the land around it. The shape of Lake Towada was formed essentially by multiple historic volcanic eruptions and the subsequent collapses and shifts of surrounding land thousands of years ago. The water from Lake Towada flows out thru Oirase Gorge/Stream.
Lake Towada consists of two main areas, Yasumiya and Utarube. Yasumiya is where the “main” township area where the ryokans, hotels/motels, omiyage shops and restaurants are available for tourists. Here is where one would take the scenic ferry/cruise around Lake Towada.
We opted for the high speed RIB boat lake tour instead (the operator is Guriland) which provided greater access to numerous scenic spots around the lake (Itomuka Cove, etc). The launch area for the RIB boat is at Utarube which is the quieter area of Lake Towada which has camping grounds available.
There are also annual winter and summer festivals that occur in the area, bringing additional excitement and colour to this serene and peaceful lakeside town. Definitely something to keep an eye out for if you happen to traverse in the area during those seasons.
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