We pick you up at your hotel in Kusatsu and drive up the Shiga-Kusatsu road, a high mountain route open only in the warm months. You cross Shibutoge at 2,172 m and spend the day among the lakes and forests of the Shiga Kogen plateau. The tour takes about 8 hours and ends back at your hotel.

Around 09:00 we leave Kusatsu and climb past volcanic slopes. Near Mt Kusatsu-Shirane some sections have no stopping because of volcanic gas, so we drive through. Around 10:00 we reach Shibutoge, the highest point on any national road in Japan, with a marker stone and wide views of the mountains.

Around 10:30 we drive to the Yokoteyama area. The lift to the summit is optional and gives a view of the Northern Alps on clear days. Then around 11:30 you walk the wooden path around Kidoike Pond, with mountain flowers in summer and red trees in autumn.

Around 12:30 we have lunch in Shiga Kogen. Then around 13:30 you walk the Ichinuma and Hasuike ponds, and the Ikenodaira Wetland trail, about one hour on flat paths among white birches.

Around 15:15 we drive back over the pass, with a stop at a viewpoint for the last views, and arrive in Kusatsu around 17:00. If time allows, you can walk the Sainokawara Park in town.

Your plan is customizable: you can walk more trails and skip the lift, change the order of the ponds, or swap in a nearby stop like the Biwa-ike Pond or the Hasuike Visitor Centre, within the tour time.

This is a private tour. Only your group.

If the Shiga-Kusatsu road over Shibutoge is closed or cancelled on your date, your driver-guide takes you to a similar place nearby instead. The tour price does not change. If you prefer, we can instead visit the Kusatsu Sainokawara Park and the Yamba Dam lake area in its place.