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Highlands ยท 8 days
Shirakaba Highlands Loop
Larch forests, alpine lakes, and long open descents through Nagano's highland resort towns.
8 daysRoadIntermediatePrivate trip
Larch forests, alpine lakes, and long open descents through Nagano's highland resort towns.
This one is a loop, not a traverse: out from Lake Suwa, up onto the Venus Line, the 70km scenic road that strings together every highland in this corner of Nagano, and back down again eight days later. Wide lanes, gentle curves, and the kind of open views that make the climbing feel optional even when it isn't. Four named highlands, one lake you'll want to walk rather than ride, and a proper descent to finish.
A gentle shakedown ride around the Lake Suwa shoreline path, flat and easy, past Takashima Castle rising out of its own moat, once known as the 'floating castle' of the lake.
Visit the Suwa Lake Geyser Center to watch the lakeside geyser erupt.
Suwa Taisha is four shrine complexes, not one, split across both shores of the lake. We ride the lakeside road connecting the Kamisha and Shimosha precincts.
Look for the four giant onbashira pillars standing at the corners of each shrine, re-erected in a festival held only once every seven years.
The climbing starts here: a steady ascent onto the Venus Line, the scenic highland road that strings together every stop for the rest of this trip, rising onto the Kirigamine plateau above 1,800m.
In July, the Kirigamine grasslands turn bright yellow with blooming day lilies, worth timing a trip around if you can.
Rolling highland riding along the Venus Line, larch forest either side and long views out to the Yatsugatake range, easing down to the still water of Shirakaba-ko.
Walk the lake's soft, larch-needle paths at your own pace, no bike required for this one.
A short riding day built around recovery, with an optional cable car up Kurumayama, one of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains, for a panoramic view with none of the climbing.
Ride the Kurumayama cable car to the summit for 360-degree highland views.
The loop's most expansive riding: open grassland stretching to the horizon on the Utsukushigahara plateau, 'the beautiful highland,' the Venus Line at its widest and emptiest.
The plateau's open-air art museum scatters sculpture across the grassland, an easy stop if you want to stretch your legs on foot.
The payoff for six days of climbing: a long, open descent off the plateau into Tateshina, one of Nagano's classic highland hot spring towns.
A hot spring soak in Tateshina to finish the day's descent properly.
An easy final ride back down to the lake, closing the loop where it started.