Good afternoon. I am planning to visit Sado Island sometime in June (I am a resident of Japan). I am willing to face the rain to get some much needed outdoor time. I am mainly planning to hike. I will not have a car. Even though infrequent, the island seems to be well served by bus and looks like I can get myself to trailheads by public transport with a little bit of careful planning. I am planning to base myself in Kawaharada town as I found a lovely hostel there. I was wondering if any of the fellow group members have any Sado related tips including hiking trails (in addition to popular 7-hours island crossing trek)? Thank you for any input you may be willing to share.
2 comments
I don’t hike but know Sado quite well. It’s a –fantastic– destination for tourists.
“Careful planning” is indeed needed. Buses are quite slow, and if you miss one while on Sotokaifu you could get stuck for some time.
At least, try to get access to a bicycle, you can cross from Ryotsu to Sawada and roam the central plain with just that. Sawada is the “commercial heart” of Sado and most commerces and activities are there, rather than Ryotsu (which has only a couple things to do, and a historical church). Travelling to the Sotokaifu coast (really worth it) or Kosado range with a bicyle would be possible, but that’s quite the trip. The Southern coast around Ogi/Shukunegi definitely deserves a visit, probably doable from Sawada with a bicycle …
I climbed Mt. Kinpoku from the Hakuundai Community Center. Very easy hike with a nice view. You can see North and South Korea. The trail there actually is a gravel road for the Japanese military base, and you can tell the road was designed for tank size vehicles.
I rented an electric bike from the Office of Tourism to get there. I didn’t borrow a spare battery or charger, so I did run out of battery on the second day, and apparently not all of the tourist offices on the island have spare batteries…