As we are still in Sakura season, I have decided to continue with another edition of “Best Sakura viewing places in Hokkaido”. Previously, I had covered Cherry Blossom viewing in Southern Hokkaido via a free and easy trip.

This time round, I will be covering Sakura or Cherry Blossom viewing in Central Hokkaido. There are 3 great places for you to consider, or you could visit all three in a self drive trip.

1. Murayama Park

The first place would be Maruyama Park, which would be the easiest to get to of the 3 places covered here. Maruyama Park is located in the western part of Sapporo under Maruyama mountain. Here, you will find more than 1,500 Sakura trees in the park. There are also giant elm and cypress trees located within the park grounds.

Maruyama Zoo and Maruyama Baseball Stadium are also in the same vicinity. There is roadside parking around the Zoo or paid parking lots beside the Stadium if you are entering the park from the west end. If you are taking the train, you wold be entering from the east end which is closest to the train station.

I had based my self drive itinerary out of Chitose and drove up north to Sapporo for my day trip using Maruyama Zoo as the target destination in the GPS. However, there was quite a crowd going to the zoo that day, taking up all available roadside parking. I had to park at the stadium instead. As this is a fairly large park, you would probably want to allocate at least half a day so you could take a leisurely stroll, exploring the sights in the area.

My timing was not perfect but I managed to catch the tail end of the Sakura season. The falling Sakura flower petals floating in the air were such a wonderful sight to behold.

Other than Sakura viewing, you might want to visit the virgin forest to take in the magnificent view of the giant elm and cypress trees. If you are lucky, you might just catch a glimpse of the woodpecker at work.

Following that, you could visit the shrines in the area, the famous one being Hokkaido Shrine. The path to the Shrine is lined with many Cherry trees making for a very scenic view during full bloom. The Hokkaido Shrine was built in 1869, with an area of around 180,000 square meters. The local people visit the shrine on celebratory occasions such as weddings or to receive blessings when they or their children reach certain ages. “Clean” yourself with the purification water at the entrance before making your way in. You can partake in the temple activities here or take a break in the rest area and sip the hot tea provided.

If you have some time left, you could drop by the Maruyama Zoo (札幌市円山動物園). Maruyama Zoo is the first zoo in Hokkaido. It was built in 1951. The interesting feature is that they encourage interaction with the animals. There are a few exhibit areas established to support this interaction such as the “Tropical Animal House”, “Kangaroo House” and “Kid’s Zoo”.

 

2. Shizunai Nijukken (20-Ken) Road

The second place would be Shizunai Nijukken Road (静内二十間道路,  551 264 175), which is south of Sapporo, located in the Shinhidaka (新ひだか) town area. This is one of the places where you would appreciate being able to reach more inaccessible destinations with a self drive trip

There is some historical background to this place. “Ken” is an olden unit of measure.  This was a historical route and Sakura trees were planted 20 ken apart on both sides of the road to mark the path. Hence the name of the place. You can find more details of the background at this Japanese site. Today, there are around 3,000 Sakura trees over a 7km stretch of this road.

Although I had the mapcode of this destination, I was a little unsure since your typical destination would usually be some sort of building. Not this place, just roads, farmland, horses and open fields in your view. So I was not really sure that I had reached my destination, an open road. But then the sight of cars parked along both sides of the road and the picturesque view of the Sakura flowers was a better confirmation than the “You have arrived at your destination.” message.

Shinhidaka is also known as horse country. The many ranches that you see around are horse ranches. It is said that as much as 80% of the horses in Japan can be found here. Please do let me know if you can find more information on this. Most of the horses are bred for racing with the Japan Race House Association conveniently located here too.

Coincidentally, the Sakura season is also foaling time for the horses. As you are enjoying the view of the Sakura bloom, you can also catch a view of these new born foals with their parents.

 

3. Seidai Dam Park

Next we head north, towards Biei (美瑛) which is north of Sapporo. The third location that we are exploring is Seidai Dam Park (聖台ダム,  389 108 322). The Seidai dam was completed in 1937, as a source for irrigating the rice fields in the region.

Again, this is one of those remote spots where you will need a rental car to get around. This is not a well known area, not the touristy kind of place. However, this is a place where you can enjoy beautiful cherry blossoms in spring, lavenders in early summer and the autumn colours.

This could be a stop over point as you are making your way north towards Biei or Furano. Do come prepared though, bring a picnic basket along as there aren’t really any food establishments here.

And yes, this is a great place to grab nice scenic shots. Be sure to grab this postcard shot before you leave.

 

Ja
KL