Kirishima-Yaku National Park

A portion of the Kirishima mountain range hiking trail

Kirishima Kinkowan National Park (霧島錦江湾国立公園 Kirishima-Kinkowan kokuritsu kōen) is in Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, Kyushu.

Understand

History

• 1934: started as Kirishima National Park, as one of the first three national parks.
• 1964:Yakushima and Kinkowan areas were added and became Kirishima-Yaku National Park.
• 2012:Yakushima National Park was detached. Aira area added and became Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park.

Landscape

Trails stretch along the edge of several calderas.

Often likened to the surface of the moon, the Kirishima mountain range has 23 volcanic cones, of which 15 are intact and 10 are filled with water.

Climate

Maruo Onsen (hot springs)

Kirishima literally means "Misty Island", but it's not an island at all: instead, the name is a reference to how often the mountain is wrapped in misty fog, and it's thus not a surprise that it rains more or less all the time here.

Information Site

Ministry of Environment has an official bilingual webpage for the park.

Get in

Kirishima is quite spread out. For the hot springs, the nearest station is Kirishima Jingu (霧島神宮駅) on the JR Nippo Line between Kagoshima (45 min) and Miyazaki (1 hr 20 min), from where buses connect to the hot spring resort of Kirishima Onsen (霧島温泉) in 25 min.

Access to the trailheads at Ebino Kogen (えびの高原) is harder, and your own car will come in handy. For buses, check with the Kirishima Tourism Office (tel. +81 995-57-1588) and Miyazaki Kotsu.

Do

Kirishima Jingu

Thanks to heavy volcanic activity, there are countless hot springs in the area, some of which have a recognizable smell or billowing pillars of steam. Several ashiyu (足湯), or "foot baths," in the area are free of charge.

There is also a large and famous shrine in the area worth visiting called Kirishima Jingu (霧島神宮).

Sleep

Camping

• 1 Ebino Plateau Camp Village (えびの高原 キャンプ村), 1470 Higashinagaeura (From the main intersection at the Mt. Karakuni visitor center and trailhead, take the highway west for a few hundred meters. Look for small signs on the left, and follow those to the campground.), ☏ +81 98-433-0800. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 10AM. A camground within easy walking distance of the main visitor center for Mt. Karakuni. Reservations can be made by telephone or LINE. (updated Aug 2024)

Go next

Routes through Kirishima-Yaku National Park

Oita ← Miyazaki ←

N  S

→ Kagoshima

Article Geo different to Wikidata
Wikivoyage: Latitude 31.2629, Longitude 130.7060 (Map, Geohack)
Wikidata: Latitude 36.77917, Longitude 139.64889 (Map, Geohack)
Difference: 1,026.6km