Kinugasa Yama Park

Kinugasa Shrine, right outside the park entrance

I think this park becomes quite popular during the sakura, but the remainder of the year that I’ve seen so far it’s a beautiful secluded place to take the family and I love running through here. There’s a great park for kids (to include a really fun loop-de-loop climbing area) and two observation towers.

Maps & Trails

As with most parks there are decent rough maps of the park posted all over the place.

The standard park map

This park map is very accurate (as far as showing all the trails and how they connect to each outerh) but it doesn’t show where the trails come out or help with parking so I made my own Google Map. The blue trails are paved and the brownish-orange trails are unpaved. I’ve also included some trails for the Kinugasa Ruins on the other side of 27.

The main path from the entrance to the observation tower and playground loop are paved although it does have some slope to it in places. The main paved path splits about 170 m from the entrance with the left path going towards the observation tower (another 300 m) and the right path going to the playground loop (another 430 m). The playground loop itself is 410 m.

Main paved path through the park

The rest of the trails connect these two split paved paths or go off to various exits.

What to do

Playground

If you just look at Google Maps, this one can get a little confusing. It shows three playgrounds. I’ve run through here a lot and as near as I can tell the other two are just open areas without playground equipment. For kids you want to do a Google Map search for the southeastern-most one: わんぱくの森 (here).

Would the real playground please stand up

This one has a fun little mesh rope bridge that goes around the main structure. It also has nice shade on one side for watching your kids. You’ll often see school trips here of folks picnicking in the shade.

The boyz heading down the stairs to the park

Other end of the playground

Our kids loved the rope tunnels & bridges

Loop-de-Loop

On your way down to the playground from the main entrance you’ll walk by this big loop-de-loop rope tunnel. We almost just walked by this structure but our kids would not let us. It has a bit of sway to it, but it seems safe enough.

Yes, it's as much fun as it looks

Observation Deck

Like any self-respecting Japanese park with a hill, Kinugasa Yama also has an observation deck (Google Map search: 衣笠山公園展望台). It has great views of Fuji, Yokosuka and Kannonzaki Point. During the spring you could probably get some great shots of Fuji through the blossoms and new leaves.

Alita with a very faint Fuji-san in the background

Sakura Viewing Area

There are two beautiful orchards where you can see beautiful blooms in the spring. We have not yet done our first sakura so I might update this later. But even if you visit other times of the year, the main one has some neat wood carvings and it’s still a great area for a picnic. You can find one of the viewing areas with Google Maps by searching: 衣笠山公園上の広場 (here).

No blossoms in December? No problem for our kids.

Parking & Access

Main entrance

The best parking option is by the shrine. In Google Maps if you enter “Kinugasa Shrine” it will get you very close (you just have to drive past it another 100 m).

Kinugasa Shrine

The parking is just past the shrine on the left as you go up the hill. The lot is open from 8:00 - 17:00. It has 14 parking spots. Outside of the sakura, it’s a pretty quiet park and I’ve rarely seen the lot full before 10:00.

There is one bathroom and vending machine here and two other bathrooms in the park. The next one is 170 m down where the main path splits by the cherry tree groves. The third bathroom is down towards the playground.

There are some other parking places that I have not investigated but that may work in a pinch of during the busier times of year. I have run by several parking spots on my map but have not tried these ones out:

There’s a spot about 200 m down from the shrine. Using my phone’s translate function I think it’s overflow parking for the elderly during the sakura.

A surer option is a 4 -5 spot paid parking about 600 m / 10 min walk up the hill. It’s ¥100 / 20 min during park hours.

Bamboo Forest Access

This is one of the less traveled sections of the park but I think it’s one of the prettiest ways in and probably the quickest way to the playground. At the end of this residential street there are three parking spots.

Parking spots for the bamboo forest entrance

From this trail you walk about 185 m through a beautiful bamboo forest.

Then you come to a T intersection with one trail that heads north into another neighborhood. This is a good access option although the parking is not as good right at the trailhead.

To the south the trail takes you to another intersection. Going east will take you to the playground / playground loop. From parking to the playgroun is only about 400 m.

Going south will take you 300 m uphill to the observation tower. Most of the path is stone lined steps although some are the dirt and log steps that tend to wash out in places.

Ave / Ridgeline Trail

This is my favorite way to run into the park. Ridgeline trail is my own personal name - so don’t look for that translation from the signs. The parking area above is also right next to a ridgeline trial. I’d be tempted to park at the AVE Kinugasa shop but I’m going to guess that they monitor for Kinugasa Yama parking.

You’ll see a little statue and sign along the road. Turn and run up along the white fence, but keep going straight when the road bends. You’ll eventually come to a set of log stairs that are the official start of the trail.

Little shrine that marks the spot from the road

Sign for the trail. Go up and over the chains at the top

The trail is about 660 m and goes along a ridge. It goes by two picnic tables which always amuses me. In the in winter it’s a bit cold to picnic but when it’s warm enough to picnic the bugs are a little intense.

One of the picnic tables on the way up the ridgeline

The trail goes up and over a small knoll about halfway with some stairs on either side.

Stairway over the knoll

Just before the trail joins with another connector trail, you go along a wall with some nice views of the neighborhood.

Nice views of the neighborhood before you connect to the rest of the park

Neighborhood Access

At the northeast end of the playground loop there’s a 250 m gravel path that goes out towards the Kinugasa Hospital. This access is about a 4 min walk from some paid parking. If you just wanted to go to the playground this would be your easiest bet.

Route 27

This is not really main access so much as a connection to the Kinugasa Castle Ruins (which sounds a little more exciting that what is actually there). But if you enjoy trail running and want to connect to Mount Oogusu (大楠山) and trails beyond, this is your huckleberry. It’s steep and a lot of the dirt behind the log stairs has eroded. But I love that you can run through Kinugasa Park and connect to so many other great trails.

There is one spot just down the road toward the 16 Expressway intersection where I occasionally see cars parked, but I’m not sure about the rules and would be wary of parking there myself.