Makkari Trail was added to Your Favorites!
Shikotsu-Tōya NP., Hokkaido
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
Of Mt. Yōtei’s 4 climbing routes, Makkari is considered relatively gentle—but it is also the longest. Its easier-sounding reputation comes with a full-day climb.
The upper Makkari Trail crosses part of Mt. Yōtei’s alpine plant zone, designated a Natural Monument on March 3, 1921. Its record highlights distinctive plant communities, including Ezo-tsugazakura and iwaichō.
Makkari Village traces its name to the Ainu term マクカリペッ (Makukaripet), linked to the river that circles Mt. Yōtei—a landscape story preserved in the name of this trail.
The route reaches a named Makkari Peak at 1,860 m, but that is not Mt. Yōtei’s top: the 1,898 m summit lies about 30 minutes farther on. From the peak, the village and Lake Tōya come into view.
Near the ninth-station junction, a short detour toward the refuge hut leads to a colony of Shiran-aoi, a striking pink-purple wildflower. Makkari Village points out this special patch just 5 minutes from the junction.
The upper trail’s flower fields spread from around late July, and Makkari Village’s guide singles out Onoe gentian as distinctive to Mt. Yōtei. The mountain’s floral season reaches well into summer.
Just off the upper Makkari route, Mt. Yōtei’s refuge hut was rebuilt in 2013 mainly for emergencies. Its toilet introduced a soil-treatment system—the first such mountain installation in Hokkaidō.
