When planning a trip to Susono, you can choose from several different highlights: Suyama Asama Shrine, a cultural site; Goryu Waterfall; the Ashitaka Mountains, which extend across several municipalities; a day-use hot spring bath; and Umenosato, an area known for plum blossoms. When choosing where to stay, the first question is whether you want to focus your visit on history, scenery, or the hot spring bath.

Scenery Between Waterfall and Mountains

The Ashitaka Mountains extend across Susono City, Numazu City, Fuji City, and Nagaizumi Town. The range comprises several mountains spanning about 60 kilometers; its highest peak is 1,504-meter Echizen-dake. It is one of Japan’s 200 Famous Mountains. This scale sets the wider landscape apart from individual destinations such as Goryu Waterfall.

The waterfall comprises five cascades that plunge over a lava cliff about 100 meters wide and 12 meters high. It is designated a natural monument of Shizuoka Prefecture. Central Park is a Japanese garden laid out around the waterfall. The waterfall and garden therefore offer a different focus from the extensive mountain range, which spans several municipalities.

Umenosato, an area known for plum blossoms, is next to the Healthy Park Susono day-use hot spring bath. The grounds are home to about 700 red and white plum trees and 200 cherry trees; these numbers may change. Healthy Park Susono uses the name “Susono Bijin no Yu” for its hot spring water, which is rich in sodium, calcium, and chloride. The facility is classified as a day-trip hot spring bath.

Shrine, Trail, and History

The grounds and sacred grove of Suyama Asama Shrine were designated a national historic site on February 7, 2011. They are part of the Fujisan World Heritage Site. The shrine is the starting point of the Suyama Trail, which leads to the summit area. The trail was already in use during the Muromachi period. Climbers who followed it to the summit performed historical purification rituals and prayed for a safe ascent.

A travel account from 1486 also records a visit: the “Kaikoku Zakki” mentions what is thought to have been an entrance to the Suyama Trail. This historical reference and the trail’s recorded use give it a character distinct from that of a simple route between a starting point and the summit area.

A special tour of Suyama Asama Shrine is available for groups by request. After a formal prayer inside the shrine, participants can hear a local guide explain the history of Fuji worship, the shrine’s points of interest, and the Suyama Trail. If you would like to include this type of tour in your plans, be sure to request it specifically.

A Park with Its Own Cultural History

Central Park grew out of the Goryukan-Sano Hotel, which opened at this location around 1891. The poet Wakayama Bokusui and the writer Jiro Nitta visited the park grounds. Goryu Waterfall and the Ashitaka Mountains also feature as settings in works of literature. In the area around the park, the garden, waterfall, and literary connections sit alongside the history of the former hotel.

Planning Your Trip

For walking, the Susono City Tourism Association created the “Susono-sanpo” brochure, which includes a map of nine walking routes within the city. For cycling, Susono City worked with Gotemba City and Oyama Town to develop model routes and a regional cycling map. The two offerings have different focuses: one brings together walking routes within the city, while the other is a joint regional cycling plan.

In the wider region, the Fukara Irrigation Canal tells the story of a larger undertaking: beginning in 1666, its 1,280-meter tunnel was excavated beneath Koziri Pass over about four years to bring water from Lake Ashi to the Shizuoka side. It adds a history of hydraulic engineering to the local shrine and landscape themes, but is part of a story that spans several municipalities.

Let your travel plans guide your choices, without trying to combine the different places and their distinct highlights into a single itinerary.

Discover more destinations: Kosai, Ito, Kannami, Shimada, Fukuroi, Fujinomiya, Omaezaki, Minamiizu

For the broader travel overview: Shizuoka Prefecture.