Volcano walk on Mt Ontake
- alastairbourne
- Aug 23
- 2 min read
Hike date: August 23, 2026
I climb Mt Ontake every year the volcano is safe and every time I'm blessed with good weather. This year was no exception with blue skies, and clouds only rising after lunchtime when I was heading back down. Ever since the 2014 eruption that killed 63 people I've climbed Mt Ontake from the Kurosawa trailhead. Today I decided to go back to the Tanohara trailhead, which I had last used just 3 weeks before the eruption. Tanohara is another 40 km after leaving the main road so I was pleased to finally arrive, although I had a close encounter with a family of boars running in front of my car. The hike started easily enough, but soon started to gain elevation with some wooden steps and the massive hulk of the mountain looming ahead of me. Before long I was clear of the trees and onto the steep path littered with volcanic rock and sweating hikers. I finally made it to the highest point at Kengamine, where I spent 1 minute before heading to the northern side of the volcano away from the crowds. This is one of my favourite spots. I passed by the various craters, had a quick lunch by the sandy Ninoike crater, went down into the valley with the creeping pine, and then up again to Mt Marishiten at the far end of the summit area. It's nearly 2 km from Kengamine, a shattered caldera rim that is covered broken rock and wildflowers. It was a little chilly up there at more than 3,000 metres, and I felt the first wind of autumn. From Marishiten it was back the way I came, avoiding Kengamine and the Sunday crowds. I even had time to fall flat on my face as I took one of the slippery wooden steps near the trailhead too fast. Fortunately there was no damage down, except to my pride.
Check here for more information about Mt Ontake.
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