Okayama Forest Park — Attraction in Kagamino

Walking through Okayama forest is a must for anyone in the local area. It has the most beautiful views of silent forests, small streams, waterfalls and, if you climb to one of the peaks, the view of all the surrounding mountains and, on a clear day, a view of the coast 20km away. The forest is also full of wildlife with flora such as cedar trees, bamboo forests and about 20 different fungi, and fauna such as a huge selection of birds, snakes and, if you're lucky, bears.

The walks however are most certainly not for those who have any trouble in doing so. Most paths are around 30° steep for a few kilometres and so any walks through here will take a few hours but it is truly worth it. As for getting here the base is around 800m high and so it is very advisable to take a car which there is plenty of...

A lovely prefectural park with plenty of forest, a great network of hiking trails, and abundant bird life. The visitors centre is full of interesting information about the area with a cosy wood heater to sit by on cooler days. We visited in late autumn so it was a bit late to see autumn leaves, but we did about 6kms of walking to see the waterfalls which were pretty, but not enough recent rain to really get them going. Bring some binoculars to get a good look at the birds, and I imagine it’s pretty amazing...

GW３日にザゼンソウと水芭蕉が見たくて夫婦２組でウォーキングを兼ねて行きました。 自分的にはウォーキング気分で出かけたので当然軽装。でも、駐車場とか案内所で行き交う人は殆ど山登り風👀 場所間違えた？て感じでした。

平らな道を想像していたので、登り下りの多いコースにえっ？えっ？ 主人もウォーキング気分でいたため、登り下りが続くコースに観念して、戻ろう。の一言でした。

仕方なく小川沿いのコースを歩き、ひとまず目的地に到着したのをよしとして、目的のザゼンソウも水芭蕉も見ること無しに帰るのか？ 釈然とせず入り口方面に歩いているとやっと出会えた水芭蕉!! 思わずスマホでの撮影会✌

残念ながら、ザゼンソウには出会えませんでしたが、初の水芭蕉には感激でした。 園内のコース案内にも花が咲いている位置を書いて戴けると良かったなあ。と皆で話...