Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Abandoned Fukuchiyama Line - 旧福知山線

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Place Name: Abandoned Fukuchiyama Line - 旧福知山線
Type: Hiking Course ハイキングコース / Abaondoned Railway 廃線
Location: Takarazuka City and Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, JAPAN
Starting Location Namaze Station 生瀬駅 
Latitude: 34.8561
Longitude: 135.306
Ending Location Takedao Station 武田尾駅 
Latitude: 34.819158
Longitude: 135.325058
Date of Visit: August 7, 2012
Access: JR West Fukuchiyama Line
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This is a hike very popular with the locals that takes you along the Mukogawa river on what use to be the Fukuchiyama line connecting Takarazuka with Sanda. It only takes a few hours and can be done easily in an afternoon. I took my daughter in her backpack and we had no problems other than a few low hanging trees. Along the route there are a few long tunnels which are not lighted so taking a good flashlight along is recommended. I was able to trick my iPhone light into staying on getting us safely through, but I won't be doing that again.

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The views of the river are amazing. Great cliff walls and the tight canyon it has dug are quite dramatic. There are some rough rapids that are great to watch from above. Conversely, a few sandy beaches also look tempting, but are impossible to reach from the trail.

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It's fun walking by all of the signs posted by JR West saying the trail, tunnels, and bridges are closed and that it's NOT a hiking course. Feel free to ignore them as the trail is very heavily used by young and old. I'm guessing that JR posts the signs to avail itself of any legal responsibly.


View Fukuchiyama Line HIke in a larger map

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7 comments:

owenandbenjamin said...

Beautiful looking hike.

angryparsnip said...

I wold love to take this hike !
Beautiful.
Where was Mia's litle 99 cent latern when you needed it.

cheers, parsnip

sleepytako said...

We had the lantern but it didn't do much help. Mia wasn't holding it as usual she just kept it in her lap. She was totally cool and not scared at all. I'm sure having the light helped.

Edward J. Taylor said...

One of my favorite hikes in Kansai. Great fun!

Cecilia said...

Wow! Beautiful!

A.T. Post said...

Cool!! (I wish I could leave something more profound than that, but that's what popped into my head.)

Unknown said...

We went there in August and it was absolutely beautiful! The only bummer was the river was a little muddy after all the heavy rains and typhoons. I'm planning to go back maybe in November and see the river and autumn leaves. : )