A friend of ours was interested in Apple Picking & Hiking in Daigo during the Momiji season (autumn leaves viewing period). We mapped out a challenging hike that would give us a birds eye view of Fukuroda Falls. After we planned to go apple picking and visit an onsen before heading home.

Fukuroda Falls Choei Daiichi Parking Lot

We picked up our friend at 7:00 in the morning and headed north along National Route 118. It took us about 80 minutes to get to the Fukuroda Falls Choei Daiichi Parking Lot which was free. We got in at a good time as there were only two parking spaces left when we arrived. We used the public restrooms before heading to the trailhead.

Mt. Tategami

The trail weaved its way through the mountains. We were able to get a couple of nice views of the river valley below. Despite being fall there were still a number of beautiful wild flowers in bloom. We were surprised by the amount of rope and chain sections on the way up. This hike did require a certain amount of balance and upper body strength.

After reaching the summit of Mt. Tategami we took a slight detour to the Ibaraki Gendarme. We hiked/climbed along a ridge which had steep cliffs on both sides. When we reached the Gendarme we were given panoramic views of the mountains and valleys below.

Our favorite part was a river crossing, where we were able to scramble along the river. We finished our hike on a staircase that dropped us off right next to the bridge that crosses in front of Fukuroda Falls. We had passed by this staircase during our previous trip and had wondered where it led to. Afterwards, we continued along the main path back towards our car. We were getting a bit hungry, so we decided to stop and get lunch at Futaba Shokudo. We had some delicious soba, grilled fish, and konnyaku mochi balls.

Toyota Apple Orchards

We headed back to the car and made our way to Toyota Apple Orchards. It was a short and scenic 10 minute drive. Since this was our first time apple picking, we decided to go with a more established and commercialized place. The apple orchard was located directly off of National Route 461. The parking lot was pretty big and it spanned several terraced plateaus. We talked to one of the staff and were able to get our own apple picking bags for ¥500/person. We then headed out to the orchard. On the day we went, there were two different types of apples that we could pick. They were Gunma meigetsu (ぐんま名月) and youkou (陽光).

Our perception of going to an apple orchard and picking whatever apples we wanted were dashed. The “pickable” apples were in a neighboring orchard and the staff was offering cart rides to it. Due to our limited Japanese speaking ability we “frightened” the first driver and ended up walking to the other orchard. Once we got to the correct orchard, we began picking the apples we thought looked good. It turned out that some of the apples we picked, weren’t the right ones. A staff member came by and gave us a new bag and separated the ones that weren’t supposed to be picked. These apples were smaller and more expensive. Looking a little confused, a nice staff member came by and told us specifically which apple trees we could pick from. We picked a couple more before heading back to the check out counter. Before checking out we grabbed a delcious looking apple pie and sampled some of the apples. We then got in line and paid for our apples by their weight.

Tsuki Onsen Takimi no Yu Shirakiso

After getting our apples we headed over to Tsuki Onsen Takimi no Yu Shirakiso which we had passed on our way in. It was a small and quaint onsen which seemed to be popular with locals. The only thing was that the changing room for the men was right next to the entrance and there was no privacy wall. There was only a curtain that was not always spread out.

Inside, there were only a half dozen or so bathing stations. The inside bath was a bit small, but it was nice and relaxing. The outside bath was beautiful with its natural looking rock formations and water flow feature. We really liked the contrast of being in the hot onsen and feeling the cool mountain breeze. After we got out, we relaxed briefly in a large tatami room which also doubled as their small restaurant. After our bath we made our way back to Mito.

Roadside Station Hitachiomiya

On our way we made a brief stop at Roadside Station Hitachiomiya to pick up some gelato. We tried the egoma (shiso) and caramel pumpkin flavors. The egoma was really good. It had a nutty almost sesame type flavor. The caramel pumpkin was very lite, maybe too lite for us. There was the faintest hint of pumpkin and just a bit of sweetness. We’d get the egoma again, but we’d probably pass on the caramel pumpkin. We got back to Mito around 17:00.

Final Thoughts

We enjoyed Apple Picking & Hiking in Daigo. The hike was a little tiring, but was worth it for the bird’s eye view of Fukuroda Falls, the climbing parts, and the river crossing. We want to explore more of the local mountains and rivers in the future. The apple picking was fun, once we figured out which apples to pick. It was nice to do once, but its not something we’re likely to do again. We’ll just purchase the pre-picked apples that were sold at the check out counter instead.

More to Come…