Travel time: 40 minutes - Stations: Keio-Nagayama,
Trail time: 3,5 hours - Effort: medium
The gem of Tama, in a nice loop you can hike or run
Nagayama is a nice little town in West Tokyo. This loop chains its many pedestrian paths witth the stunning Toritsu Sakuragaoka Park for a great walk or run (especially in Autumn!)
+ The good
- Toritsu Sakuragaoka Park: a large hilly park, former hunting retreat for Emperor Meiji, filled with grass-fields, woodland trails, and great panoramic views from the top (no Fuji-san in sight, though)
- Endless treed paths to reach it, elevated and separated from car traffic through a series of charming old bridges
- Perfect for running: completely paved and same starting-ending station for locker use
- Seasonal beauty: trees in the area are chosen especially for their autumn and spring colors
~ The bad
- It is an urban trail and, especially around Tama New Town, you will walk at people's doorstep. Light jogging should be fine, but I would definitely leave rope & alpenstock at home
- Some less interesting bits here and there, simply because Toritsu Sakuragaoka Park is a bit in a corner and -as much as the itinerary does its best to hide it- you still have some town-crossing to do
Links
- Original map (in Japanese)
- For a shorter option (maybe with kids?) you can reach the top of the park by bus from Seiseki-Sakuragaoka and Nagayama (once every 15 minutes) or from Inagi (once per hour)
- Dozens of longer options, for example from Wakabadai or linked with the Yokoyama no michi
- And many more itineraries in the area via the Tama tourist office and Odakyu lines
- Official website