Explore Nasu OnsenSoak at Shika no Yu, try dairy products at Minamigaoka Farm or explore Nasu Heisei-no-Mori Forest. Yumoto’s baths and the wider highland sights do not form one walkable district. For one night, choose a few priorities and plan around your inn’s bus stop and the return services, leaving time for bathing.

Nasu Yuzen Shrine

Nasu Onsen ryokan and hotelsNasu, Tochigi — Yumoto's spring baths, highland boardwalks and Mount Chausu views.

Arrival gateway

Bus or shuttle from Nasushiobara or Kuroiso

Getting around

Separate Yumoto walks from highland and mountain travel

A good trip for

A highland break combining nature and bathing

Places to explore

Nasu Yumoto

Shika no Yu

This Yumoto communal bath combines a wooden interior with pools at different temperatures. Read the bathing instructions and choose water that suits you rather than treating the hottest pool as a challenge. Pair the visit with the shrine or Sesshoseki nearby to keep bathing and town history in the same district.

Location and access: Walk from the Nasu Yumoto bus-stop area
Time to allow: 45–60 minutes
Opening hours: 08:00–18:00; last reception 17:30
Price: Adult ¥500

Soap and shampoo are not permitted; use the inn's facilities for washing.

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Nasu Yumoto, beside Sesshoseki

Nasu Onsen Shrine

The shrine rises from Yumoto into a wooded hillside. Follow the approach to the buildings, then connect the visit with the neighbouring Sesshoseki legend. Together they introduce the worship and stories attached to this hot-spring settlement.

Location and access: Enter the approach from Yumoto; steps are involved
Time to allow: 30–45 minutes

Put the shrine and Sesshoseki walk before Shika no Yu if you prefer to finish the outing with bathing.

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Nasu Yumoto

Sesshoseki

Read the nine-tailed-fox legend, then look across the sparsely vegetated volcanic ground towards the stone. The story adds a reason to pause beyond taking a photograph. Beside Onsen Shrine, it fits naturally into a Yumoto outing, combining the landscape with the traditions attached to this particular place.

Location and access: Use the signed route beside Onsen Shrine in Yumoto
Time to allow: 20–30 minutes

Follow the signed paths and local volcanic-gas and entry notices.

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Yahata highlands

Yahata Azalea Park

Boardwalks run through highland vegetation towards open mountain views. Azalea season draws attention to flowers close by; at other times, leaves and sky shape the walk. The low plant-level viewpoint differs from Yumoto's buildings and volcanic stone.

Location and access: Travel uphill from Yumoto; obtain a walking map from the visitor center
Time to allow: 45–75 minutes

A boardwalk does not make every approach level; choose the extent of a shorter out-and-back walk.

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Mount Nasu, base-station area

Nasu Ropeway and Mount Chausu

Rise above the highlands for views across Nasu's mountain landscape. Beyond the upper station, a trail continues towards Mount Chausu, bringing rock slopes and open sky closer. A sightseeing return ride alone reveals a landscape different from the highland boardwalks.

Location and access: Continue uphill beyond Yumoto to the ropeway base station
Time to allow: 1–2 hours for ride and views; hiking extra
Opening hours: 2026 planned season 20 Mar–13 Dec, 08:30–16:30; last uphill 16:00, downhill 16:20
Price: Return: adult, junior high school and up, ¥2,000

The allowance excludes the summit climb, which needs a separate weather and equipment decision.

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Yumoto, Minamigaoka area

Minamigaoka Farm

Animals, Guernsey dairy foods and farm products give this highland stop several points of interest. Soft serve and filled fried bread called peroshiki bring food into the visit alongside the animals and shopping.

Location and access: Separate road journey from central Yumoto or the ropeway
Time to allow: 60–120 minutes
Price: Free entry; activities charged separately

Buy dairy gifts near departure, separating chilled products from food to eat on site.

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Beside the Nasu Imperial Villa estate

Nasu Heisei-no-Mori Forest

Notice trees and small changes on the forest floor. Fureai no Mori has self-guided paths, while Manabi no Mori is entered with a guide. Instead of pursuing a summit, the visit focuses on plants, shade and the forest itself.

Location and access: Begin at the Field Center with transport from Yumoto arranged
Time to allow: 60–120 minutes

Book a guided programme separately if you want to enter Manabi no Mori.

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A one-night itinerary

Day one

After arrival
Arrive in Yumoto and leave bags
Travel from Nasushiobara or Kuroiso to the inn's district. For a Yumoto base, leave bags before the shrine walk.
Afternoon
Onsen Shrine and Sesshoseki
Walk the wooded shrine approach, then read the Sesshoseki legend, keeping to currently permitted paths.
Before evening
Bathe at Shika no Yu
Visit the communal bath after walking. Save washing your hair for the inn and keep the remaining afternoon in Yumoto.
Evening
Dinner and rest at the inn
Use the mountain's operating and weather information to choose a ropeway outing or a highland walk for day two.

Day two

After breakfast
Mountain views or a forest walk
Take a sightseeing return ride in suitable conditions, or substitute Heisei-no-Mori for a forest day; neither requires doing both.
Alternative before departure
Farm lunch and dairy food
For a day without the mountain, make Minamigaoka Farm the main outing, then use your arranged transport towards the station.

Local food to try

Soft serve

Try the Guernsey dairy soft serve at Minamigaoka Farm after a highland outing, separately from milk or cheese purchased to take home.

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Farm peroshiki

The farm's filled fried bread gives a savoury alternative to dairy sweets. Treat it as part of lunch or a snack during a farm visit.

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Farm milk and cheese

Choose dairy gifts at the farm shop after tasting what interests you. Discuss cooling and the journey home before buying milk or cheese.

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Combine Shika no Yu with the inn

Shika no Yu in Yumoto is a communal bath with pools at different temperatures. It is not a washing stop using soap or shampoo; use your inn for that part of bathing. There is no need to work through every hotter pool. Follow the bathhouse's own instructions.

Nasu's springs spread across Yumoto, Shin-Nasu and Oku-Nasu, with different water and surroundings. If cloudy water or a sulphurous atmosphere matters, read the description of the bath you intend to use. Repeated communal-bath visits require a different base from staying inside a more distant inn. For family bathing together, look for a private inn bath separately from the communal bath's arrangements.

Yumoto, the highlands or Oku-Nasu

Yumoto is the base for walking between Shika no Yu, Onsen Shrine and Sesshoseki. Highland inns around places such as Shin-Nasu can suit time in the garden, room and dining spaces, with sightseeing arranged by road or shuttle. Farther uphill, Oku-Nasu includes mountain-road and seasonal travel considerations.

A Nasu address alone does not establish walking access to farms or museums. Trace one route from the inn to your first destination next morning to understand the difference. For mountain sightseeing, uphill and downhill travel shape the plan; for Yumoto, the communal-bath walk matters more. Shiobara Onsen is a separate destination, despite the name of Nasushiobara Station used as a gateway.

Beyond the station and up the mountain

Use a bus or inn shuttle from Nasushiobara or Kuroiso to the particular district. Neither rail arrival completes the journey to Yumoto. Connect the final stop with the inn entrance, and distinguish an accommodation shuttle from transport between attractions.

Nasu Ropeway lists a planned 2026 season of 20 March–13 December, and mountain bus service also varies by season. A summer mountain itinerary cannot be carried unchanged into winter. The tourism association lists the Nasu–Shinjuku highway bus as suspended, so this plan does not depend on it. Settle the station-to-inn round trip first, then one separate excursion towards the mountain, forest or farm that your available transport can actually serve.

Hotels to watch

Nasu Onsen Sanraku

Hotel Epinard Nasu

Photo credits

Photos are resized or cropped. Each photograph retains its linked licence.

Nasu Yuzen Shrine — Miyuki Meinaka · Nasu Yuzen Shrine from Sessho-seki area.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Shika-no-Yu bathhouse — Miyuki Meinaka · Deer's Spa, Nasu-Yumoto.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Nasu Heisei-no-Mori Forest — 663highland · 180727 Nasu Heisei-no-mori Forest Nasu Japan05.JPG · CC BY 2.5
Milk soft serve. — ノボホショコロトソ · Nishiokoppe Soft serve at Hokkaido University Museum 01.jpg · CC BY 4.0

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