Hi, this is my first post here! I plan on exploring central Japan on my next trip and I’d like to walk the ‘Abt Road’ (formerly part of the Shinetsu main line through the Usui Pass and now walking trail) to Yokokawa, tying the walk in with a visit to the Usuitouge Railway Heritage Park.
It seems most descriptions of the route start and end their walks from Yokokawa. However I’d like to approach it from Karuizawa, where the line originally connected to. The closest point of the ‘Abt Road’ is the former Kumanotaira station and whilst remnants of the line exist to Karuizawa, that part of the route appears to be closed for walking except for special events.
There is the National Route 18 road from Karuizawa to Kumanotaira but from a quick look on Google Maps it doesn’t look good for walking along. Interestingly this road is the Nakasendo but it’s not the ‘Old Nakasendo’ which goes further north before descending down to Yokokawa. Unfortunately the old road is longer than I’d like to spend on the walk and would miss out some of the ‘Abt Road’. There don’t appear to be any alternative walking routes that I could take either.
There appears to be a bus service between Karuizawa and Yokokawa via this route only on certain dates during the year, but this probably won’t be an option during my trip.
At the moment I’m currently considering getting a taxi to Kumanotaira as it’s about 15 minutes from Karuizawa and hopefully not too expensive. Would this be a reasonable option? Are taxis easy to find/book in Karuizawa?
This is a pretty niche route, so it would be great if anyone can help with advice if possible! And if I do it, I’ll report back on how it went.