The unique aspect of Hyogo Prefectural Kuniminomori Park (国見の森公園) is the mini monorail that runs along a 1100m long track that takes you to the top of the mountain about 400m high.
The monorail creeps along the track at snails pace and takes 18 minutes to reach it’s destination. The views on the way up at the small village and farmland below with the mountains either site are beautiful.
But once up the top there isn’t really much to do. A few benches and carved statues of wild bore lone the ground. A birds watching guide and the main observation tower at 465m.
There is a small waterfall back down near the car park which was a nice 5 minute walk. An activity room for the kids. In May it is popular for beautiful hanging wisteria. There are also a couple of different hiking tracks.
Kuniminomori Park is located in Shiso city, in the west of Hyogo Prefecture. It’s about 100km or an hour and a half drive from central Kobe.
The park, car parking and monorail are all free. Make sure you put your name down to reserve your place on the monorail. The list is located at the log cabin just next to the monorail entrance. Just tell the staff your name and where you have come from.
