Where is Hirayu Onsen Ski Area?
Hirayu Onsen Ski Resort is located in the Gifu Prefecture, very close to the border with Nagano Prefecture. It’s located on the flanks of Mount Norikura in amongst some really steep mountains on either side of the border. From Nagano Prefecture you drive through the Abo tunnel, and as you exit from the toll gate, the ski resort is pretty much right there. The town is about 1km down the road from the ski resort.
Hirayu Onsen is 35km east of Takayama City in Gifu and 50km west of Matsumoto (in Nagano).
Driving to Hirayu Onsen
Ideally you’ll want to have a car so that you can flexibly travel between your hotel and the ski resort, and also travel to nearby ski resorts. Chances are that if you’re a master of getting to off the beaten track Japanese ski resorts, you’ll have a car and can drive there. The phone number of Hirayu Onsen is 0578-89-2424 for GPS navigation.
The region is really mountainous and offers some spectacular driving scenery, and impressive engineering with many tunnels, bridges and dams.
The car park to the ski resort is located just outside the tunnel and toll gate. The car park is tiny, which speaks volumes for how quiet the ski resort usually is.
Bus to Hirayu Onsen
The bus station at Hirayu Onsen is a busy hub of transport, with buses stopping from many locations such as Toyama, Matsumoto and Tokyo, and there are occasional weekend bus tours from Nagoya, Osaka and Kyoto to the ski resort. If you arrive by bus, your lodging will be able to pick you up from the bus station, and some of the hotels offer shuttles to the ski resort.
Other Ski Resorts Nearby
Mount Norikura Ski Resort in Nagano Prefecture is 27km away by road, whilst Hounokidaira in Gifu (with its nice north facing slopes) is about 9km down the road.
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