Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park, Chubu, Japan

5Rrrrrrwtstw 5:00 PM Feb 12, 2023

A sight to see
Do bring crampon otherwise purchase it on site the gift shop before doing the trek. It very slippery with ice and mud covering the trek. Suggest to get the snow monkey pass which cost 3600 yen which will cover the snow monkey pass and transport and also 2 days of transport in Nagano. Snow monkey pass is available for sale at the dentensu line subway counter(can check with Nagano tourist counter) Snow monkey admission cost 800 yen and transport 1 way cost 1500 yen. Bring a umbrella too as might have snow/rain weather.

5tanlyeeng 5:00 PM Feb 8, 2020

Walking the 1.6 km trail and saw fascinating snow monkeys
This is to give information on the 1.6 km walk to the Snow Monkey Park as we (seniors in our 60s') were rather concerned after reading some reviews in this forum that some parts of the trail (which would take about 40 minutes during winter) were treacherous / slippery and about toilet facilities. We bought the Snow Monkey Pass (Yen 3,600) at Nagano Station and took the 9 am express bus which was about a 40 minutes' ride to the Snow Monkey Park bus terminal. Walked up a gentle slope for about 10 minutes to arrive at a car park which has toilet facilities. Not snowing today and there was not much snow around the park as Japan was having a mild winter this year. From the car park, walked another 10 minutes and a rather steep slope (about 30 degrees' incline) of about 5 meters long just before reaching the Gifts Shop. This slope was not so slippery at the time we walked up with our hiking shoes which have a good grip. At the Gifts Shop, I bought the crampons for Yen1,350 while my friend rented boots for Yen 800. The 1.6 km trail start besides the Gifts Shop, on a rather steep slope (about 30 degrees' incline with stairs in the middle of it) of about 5 meters long with railings on both sides. With my crampons, it was easy to walk up the rather slippery stairs as there was some ice on them. It was an easy walk (as the snow on the path had been cleared off) through the lovely beech forest. After about 35 minutes (including walking up 2 flights of steep stairs of about 45 degrees' incline), arrived at the Snow Monkey Park Information Center, a small building which was heated and has toilet facilities. This is where people pay the Yen 800 entrance fee (if they did not buy the Snow Monkey Pass). The snow monkeys were cute and fascinating. Spent an hour at the hot spring area and took lots of photos of them.The place was not too crowded with people. On the way back, my friend FELL (even though she was wearing hiking shoes with a good grip) on the very slippery slope (where there were no railings on this part of the slope) just before the Gifts Shop. I saw people slipping a lot here as ice has formed on the slope. Just after the Gifts Shop, the 5 meter long slope was also very slippery as ice has formed. I saw people having a difficult time walking down this slope. My friend held on to me (as it was not a problem for me with the crampons). I strongly recommend using the crampons for seniors like me to have a comfortable and safe walk (even on slippery and snowy parts) on the 1.6 km trail. The parts which were treacherous / slippery to me were the rather steep slopes which had turned icy, just before and after the Gifts Shop.