Nishiyama Crater Walking Trail — Attraction in Toyako

This iconic trail is awesome and easy. It does not offer a plunging view of the crater (there is a viewing platform for that to the west of it) but you can definitely feel the power of nature and the strange feeling of absolute quietness that hovers above the area with an underlying threat from within the depths of the Earth. That threat can easily remain under the radar should you not be aware of what Nature had in store there (and still has). Only the presence of Usu zan as backdrop reminds you that the whole place could vanish without sufficient notice (long enough maybe to evacuate people but not to prevent obliteration of all that was...

There are 2 trails from here. One takes you to an abandoned school and the other takes you to the 2 craters and back to the town. Both are only one-way trails.

The trail to the school is well maintained but there is not much to see on the way except for newly created hills and valleys from the eruption. The school is interesting though, quite eerie.

The trail back to town was quite underwhelming, to be honest. Most of the views are blocked by bushes and the craters look probably better from the observation deck. The abandoned buildings are right next to the town anyway so no need to...

My family and I who are tourists walked this trail today this morning. The trail itself could be challenging at times with its sometimes steep inclines and rather uneven terrain - even though, there were ropes that you could grip on to. However, if you do, do this trail, the whole experience could be interesting and yet somewhat bizarre - the former because the aftermath of a magma intrusion is there for you to see up close; and the latter, the poignant reminders of devastation and abandonment. So, you might want to be cognizant of the latter, before going ahead with...