Suginohara Gondola was added to Your Favorites!
Myōkō-Togakushi Renzan NP, Niigata
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
In 2015, this ski-season gondola gained a summer job: it began carrying visitors to the high wetland, as park planners incorporated the lift into access for Myōkō-Togakushi Renzan National Park.
On a clear day, Mt. Fuji can appear from the summit observation plaza, with Lake Nojiri and the mountains of northern Shinano in the panorama—an unexpectedly broad horizon from the Myōkō side.
Color comes in stages: the Akakurayama marshland path typically turns in mid-October, while golden larch follows later in the month. The gondola ride passes close to the changing forest.
Below the gondola, Suginosawa’s spring-water-grown rice is branded “Gift from the Moon.” A local child’s name idea won among about 100 entries; the project aims to help keep local farming going.
At about 1,500m, near the upper station, the Akakurayama Southern Foot Marsh lies among beech, linden and birch giants. Its wet ground is also a home for mizubashō, or Asian skunk cabbage.
The marshland trail was planned to avoid wet ground where possible, with no tree clearing or major earthworks; planners used wood chips and boardwalk sections to limit disturbance to the plants.
The 8-seat gondola travels 3,074m in about 15 minutes, climbing to roughly 1,500m. In autumn, the cabins pass close to the foliage, making the ride a canopy-level color journey.
