Mt. Ogura — Attraction in Kyoto

We stumbled upon this hike by complete accident as we got away from the crowds of the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. We saw a man coming down a stairway and asked him what was up there... he laughed and said, "river, view, and QUIET" and we were sold. It's a bit of a trek though nothing too hard. But it got us away from the Instagram photo-chasers and made coming to the area really worth our while. It seems you're hiking to nothing at first, but curiosity got the best of us and we're really happy it did. We ran into a handful of hikers and even got to chat to a nice Japanese man at the view point. A nice British man also let us know to make a RIGHT not too long after you pass the metal fence. If you're overwhelmed by the madness down below, check out this hike. The photos I've included don't...

Hiked this from the east (Arashiyama Bamboo Forest) to the west (Hozukyo Gorge Station) in summertime, but it was ultimately disappointing. You do get great views of both Kyoto and the Katsura River at different points coming along either way, but the summit is completely wooded and surrounded by wild boar/bear traps, which might be unsettling to some. Additionally, in the last 2 miles, as you descend into the gorge and find yourself dodging motorbikes and cars on Prefectural Road #50 leading to the train station, there are two roadside observatories above that you literally come within 100 ft of, but pedestrians are unable to visit as they are off the Arashiyama-Takao Tollway and #50 does not connect to the tollway. Perhaps there's better views (and safer...

My dog found this hiking train by chance this evening. Without any expectation or plan to reach the top we just walked along the trails - we had a one-hour evening walk here instead of walking in the park or tourist areas, which was good enough (but I wouldn’t really recommend to those who are here with a purpose to hike - you may find not so satisfying for reasons as others have mentioned).

Although there is nothing much to see (you can hear the sound of the river but can’t really see it from the mountain), I quite like this cute little trail. It is like walking in the woods in a fairy tale - there are no signs etc, you just walk and see where it will bring you to. The trails are narrow but rather flat. Easy to walk. We picked up quite some trash along...