Nunobiki Falls; A beautiful hiking track and a mini oasis in Kobe.
We set off to visit Nunobiki Falls (布引の滝) and Nunobiki Gohonmatsu Dam (布引五本松ダム). The climb up to the falls is short, relatively easy and only takes around 15 minutes. Here is our guide to get you there.
We begin our journey at Shin-Kobe Station, if you arrive on the subway or walk up from Sannomiya, follow the signs to the Shinkansen. On the ground floor, you will see the bus and taxi rank outside. Head out and turn left and turn left again to walk under the station building. It kind of looks like you are walking into a car park but once you come out the other side you will see the Setonaikai National Park (Rokko Area) map.
The path from there is easy to follow. First it weaves in and around some houses and comes out into the trees, its here you get the sense you have left the city behind. Follow the signs and a short walk to Mentaki Falls (雌滝) – the smaller of the two falls. Take a seat, have a drink and enjoy the view.
The next leg of the hike to Ontaki Falls (雄滝) is only 250 meters away, around 10 minutes, up some fairly steep steps. The Ontaki Falls are the biggest in the area with a height of 43 meters. With another seating area you can relax with the powerful sound of nature. Just a bit further up the track is another little viewing platform that leads into a little shop that sells some drinks, food and a few goods.
Continuing on we reach the Miharashi Observation Platform (みはらし展望台) which gives you a nice view over Kobe city and Osaka Bay. There are restrooms and a wash station to splash water on your face or fill up your water bottle. We took this walk in August, the middle of summer, so the breaks were well worth it.
As we push on to reach our final destination the last 10 minutes of our hike takes us by (not across!) the short Monkey Vine Bridge (猿のかずら橋), up and around some more scenic spots until we reach the Nunobiki Dam (Nunobiki Reservoir), Japans oldest gravitational concrete dam completed in 1900. The view here is quite spectacular, although the falls were the main destination, coming here was well worth it.
The above leisurely hike, with lunch, took around two hours for the return trip. Beyond the reservoir there are mountain trails for the more serious hikers. There are also some other paths you can explore that take you to a shrine, temple or the herb garden / ropeway.
Autumn (October/November) is the best season to hike up as the weather isn’t so hot and you’ll be able to enjoy the changing leaves colours.
Have you hiked up to Nunobiki Falls? Let us know what you thought in the comments.