Jigokudani monkey park

When we were in Nagano for our Japan trip, we made it a point to visit the Jigokudani park. We stayed at an inn in Shibu Onsen (lovely in its own right, but a post for another day – the premise here is one thing a week!), where there is a quick bus up to the park entrance. From the park entrance, it's about a mile on the trail to the hot spring area.

We were lucky enough to make the trip right after a storm, which meant the trail was 1) not closed off for snow and 2) still relatively fresh. We caught one of the earlier buses up so it was an extremely peaceful ~40 min hike. Would recommend.

The prize at the end is a set of hot springs where, if the season is right and the gods of luck are smiling, snow monkeys bathe and cavort. The springs are fenced off, but the monkeys routinely wander into the surrounding areas with the visitors. Contrary to some monkey stereotypes, I did not get mugged that day and they were largely well-mannered.

Though here's a reminder that curated photos and social media are a lie, because the above is expectations and this is reality:

I kid. Mostly. It was chill for the most part, but the hot spring area did get a bit elbowy as the Chinese tour groups started arriving later in the day.