I love Mominoki Park! It is located less than two hours away from Iwakuni and you don’t have to pay any tolls to get there. It’s where I go when I want to sit on a hill and stare out at some mountains covered in beautiful fall colors (it looks like a painting!!) and it’s where I had my first experience with snowshoeing a few years ago. It was love at first step, and now I want to go every day. Unfortunately, there is this pesky thing called work during the week so that just leaves weekends. My weekends are usually booked too though because I have so many things I want to do and so many places I want to see. There never seems to be enough days in a week for me. However, this winter season I have managed to go snowshoeing twice, and I am hoping to get one more visit in before all of the snow is gone. Fingers are crossed for some snow in February. In the mountains, of course. Just in the mountains.
It’s so beautiful and peaceful…..
Another great thing about spending the day here playing in the snow is that it’s not an expensive outing. We rented everything we needed from Outdoor Rec for FREE. The park is free too, so the only cost is gas and food. I took lunch with me the first time I went, but they do have a restaurant inside the main building and they have some very reasonably priced items on the menu. The second time I went, I had already planned on going to LAMP for lunch afterwards. I try to go to LAMP every time I go to this area.
Here is some of the scenery I was able to enjoy while snowshoeing. The first weekend I went, there was quite a bit of snow and all of the trees had snow all over them. The following weekend there wasn’t as much snow, but it was still enough to enjoy some snowshoeing.
There are a few different paths you can take and all of them are beautiful. I couldn’t get over how quiet it was. My friend and I ventured off the path a little bit so we could walk through this beautiful forest of trees.
There is a great area for sledding and I even saw quite a few families building igloos. I didn’t get any pictures of the sledding area. Oops. I think my brain was just focused on snowshoeing.
Wait! I did get this shot. It’s from the top of the hill and there are some people sledding on the right side.
You might have to zoom in just a tad bit to see them, but they are there. I promise.
There’s plenty of parking and it’s free, but I do recommend getting there a little early because they are really busy sometimes. When I went a couple of weekends ago, the parking lot next to the sledding area was completely full by noon. Then last weekend there was plenty of parking available as it wasn’t as crowded. It can snow quite a bit in the mountains so the roads are a little dicy sometimes. I recommend investing in some winter tires or some snow chains so you don’t have any issues getting there and back. It’s worth it if you plan on taking advantage of being so close to the snow while living here. Your safety is worth it!
I hope you get out and enjoy exploring Mominoki Park at different times of the year. When the weather is warmer, they have camping areas and plenty of open space for running around and having a picnic. Take a picnic in the fall and sit on the sledding hill. Your eyes will be treated to a gorgeous view of colorful mountains. There is also a lodge at Mominoki, for those who are looking for a little getaway. The ITT office on base can help with making reservations.
Address: 1593-75 Yoshiwa, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture 738-0301
Telephone: 0829-77-2011
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