Daisetsuzan National Park: the rooftop of Hokkaido

Daisetsuzan National Park was established in 1934, the oldest park in Hokkaido, along with Akan-Mashu National Park. The park was nicknamed “the rooftop of Hokkaido” because it has the tallest mountains on the island. It is huge—at 2,267 km² (875 miles²), it is the largest national park not only in Hokkaido, but in all of Japan. The Ishikari River, which emerges from the mountains and flows to the sea at Sapporo, is the longest river in Hokkaido and the third longest in Japan.

Daisetsuzan means “great snowy mountains” and they must be beautiful in the winter, when people go there to ski. The spring promises abundant wildflowers, and the fall is known for spectacular colors. In summer, it’s a good place to escape the heat of the cities. The park offers some of the most rugged scenery in Japan and is known for its alpine meadows and remote backcountry. As we were hiking in the park, it was fun to see people going and coming from their backpacking trips.

Daisetsuzan Volcanic Group and Sounkyo Gorge

There are three volcanic groups in the national park. The groups consist of stratovolcanoes piled on top of each other. As one vent becomes active, it builds a peak, then stops, and a new vent begins. Daisetsuzan Volcanic Group (DVG) is in the northern part of the park and includes Hokkaido’s tallest mountain, Mt. Asahidake. Tokachi Volcanic Group is in the southwest part of the park and Shikaribetsu Volcanic Group is in the eastern part of the park.

We stayed in the Sounkyo Gorge at the northern edge of the DVG, a collection of stratovolcanoes and lava domes arranged around the 2 km (1.2 mile) wide Ohachi-Daira caldera. The eight satellitic volcanoes, the highest peaks in Hokkaido, are arranged around the edges of the caldera. In the Ainu language Daisetsuzan is known as Nutapukaushipe, which means “the mountain above the river”. The Sounkyo Gorge was created by the Ishikari River and runs along the north side of the DVG.

No historical eruptions are known in this volcanic group, although the Ainu people certainly would have experienced them, since geologic investigations have dated volcanic flows over the past thousands of years. Asahidake currently exhibits steam activity in the form of fumaroles, but the volcanoes are now largely dormant.

Some features in Sounkyo Gorge

The Sounkyo Gorge is known for its onsen (hot springs) resorts, waterfalls and magnificent scenery with steep cliffs. Sounkyo means “layered cloud gorge” in Japanese. The origin of this name is the Ainu word Souunbetsu, which means “the river with many waterfalls”.

The gorge was formed by a combination of huge eruptions and subsequent erosion. Several explosive eruptions around 30,000 years ago from Daisetsuzan volcanoes caused immense pyroclastic flows to flow down from the mountains and into a pre-existing valley. Volcanic deposits of particles ranging from ash to boulders size are called tuff. Because the tuff layers were so thick, the weight caused hot glass particles to fuse together and create an “instant rock” called a welded tuff. This happened several times and filled the valley to the level shown in the Sounkyo Gorge photo above.

Over the past 10–20,000 years, the Ishikari River has gradually eroded the tuff layers to create the gorge, which extends for 24 km (14.5 miles). The welded tuff layers are exposed in the steep walls of the gorge, creating a spectacular landscape. A visitor center, resorts, and the ropeway provide information, lodging and access to the higher-elevation mountains.

Other attractions along the way

A note about transportation

Japan has what is probably the best public transportation in the world. But not in Hokkaido outside Sapporo, where population density is low. So upon leaving Sapporo we rented a car for eight days, for the travels I’ve documented in the posts for Shiretoko, Akan-Mashu, and Daisetsuzan National Parks. It was a little stressful because in Japan they drive on the other side of the road—like the Brits. But traffic was light and with a car we could visit places we could not have otherwise—for example, the impromptu stop at the paleontology museum, and getting to the trailhead to climb Mt. Meakan. We’ve now returned the car and the rest of the trip will be via public transportation, mostly by train.

How I learned about Hokkaido’s national parks

(1) The parks themselves provide extensive information about the volcanoes and other features via signs, brochures, and visitors centers. Sometimes there are English translations and sometimes we translate the Japanese to English using an app.

(2) Useful web sites: Global Volcanism Program from the Smithsonian Insitution (https://volcano.si.edu); Volcano Discovery, although the ads are annoying (https://www.volcanodiscovery.com); Japan Travel (https://www.japan.travel/national-parks/parks); Wikipeda (search on any park).