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Autumn Ride to Nichitsu
Chichibu is famous for its autumn colors so, after discovering this ride on a blog, I gave it a try. It’s a 100 km ride through the back county of Chichibu up to a ghost town that used to be an active mine called Nichitsu.
I took the ride at the end of October, in the early part of the autumn foliage season. I rode Hwy 140 out of town as it follows the Arakawa River up to where it flows out of Takizawa Dam. At the end of the reservoir I turned right on Hwy 210 which winds through a narrow canyon along the Nakatsu River. The area up there feels very remote. There were several tunnels without any lights in them. The scenery was superb. The colors of the leaves becoming more pronounced as I gained elevation.
I stopped at one road side food stand called “The Wild Pig” and was pleased to find a stuffed pig there to take a picture by. There are not a lot of places up here and it was nice to get some refreshments before getting into the climb. Shortly after this the road forks and Hwy 210 goes to the right through a long dark rough tunnel. It was so nice to come out the other side into the pleasant autumn sunshine. The air was crisp and the colors got prettier and prettier. Autumn is my favorite time to ride and I really soak in the experience.
Soon you come up to the old Nichitsu mine with its scattered abandoned buildings. It is really pretty around there with a few rocky peaks jutting out from the forest. It looks a little different than the usual forest covered mountains in Japan. It reminded me a bit of the Black Hills of my home state of South Dakota.
The grades get a little steeper as you climb up the side of Mt. Ryokami. In many places in Japan you have the option to bail out if you are tired and head to the nearest train station. This is not one of those places. It is pretty remote. As I climbed up towards the top the autumn colors became better and better. At the top of the pass there is a long narrow tunnel that punches through to the other side. The tunnel sits at about 1300 meters. After exiting the road quickly turns into a long winding descent down the side of Mt. Ryokami all the way to 299. You get nice views of the mountains looking all the way up the valley towards Chichibu.
The road intersects Hwy 299 just as it comes out of a tunnel at Shigasaka Pass. Hwy 299 is a nice wide smooth highway that Immediately goes down through some very curvy switchbacks and before it becomes a long 35 km glide down into Chichibu City. This ride holds a special place in my memory and is one that I would love to do again.
Autumn Ride to Nichitsu Gallery
