■Aizu Bandaisan (Mt. Bandai in Aizu)
The area around Mt. Bandai is roughly divided into two: Omote-Bandai meaning Front side of Mt. Bandai, and Ura-Bandai, Backside of Mt. Bandai. Omote-Bandai, south of Mt. Bandai covers most of Inawashiro and Ura-Bandai, the northern area forms a plateau where lakes and marshes such as Lake Hibara and Goshiki-Numa Swamps are. The 6-hour route to traverse Mt. Bandai from Ura-Bandai to Omote-Bandai is the most scenic. In a quiet boom of trecking and mountain-climbing, Mt. Bandai is selected one of the 100 most poular mountains in Japan. It gives you the fun of climbing as well as the joy of sight seeing.

◆Recommended Course
Among 6 routes, Happodai-Inawashiro Ski Area route is the most popular, and gives you full pleasures of mountain-climbing. The route climbs with the view of the lakes and marshes below in Ura-Bandai and the eruption crater on the left, goes through Numano Taira flat, a treasury of alpine plants, and descends the ski slope toward Lake Inawashiro.
If you come by car, it is recommended to go to Happodai by taxi having your car forwarded to Inawashiro Ski Area.

◆Routes up Mt. Bandai
(1) Happodai - Omote-Bandai
Inawashiro (45〜60min drive) Happodai (30min) Nakano-Yu (60min) Kobo Shimizu spring (30min) Mt. Bandai peak (25min) Kobo Shimizu (30min) Numano Taira (40min) Tenguno Niwa (10min) Inawashiro Ski Area (40min) Omote-Bandai trail head parking area
(2) Return trip from Shibutani
Inawashiro (15min drive) Shibutani trail head (80min) top of Bandai Kokusai Ski Area (90min) Numano Taira (25min) Kobo Shimizu spring (30min) Mt. Bandai peak (25min) Kobo Shimizu (20min) Numano Taira (60min) Bandai Kokusai Ski Area (70min) Shibutani
(3) Return trip from Ura-Bandai
Inawashiro (30min drive) Ura-Bandai trail head (30min) Ura-Bandai Ski Area (50min) top of Ura-Bandai Ski Area (30min) Crater wall (90min) Kobo Shimizu spring (30min) Mt. Bandai peak (25min) Kobo Shimizu (45min) Nakano Yu (30min) Do-Numa (10min) Ura-Bandai Ski Area (30min) base of Ura-Bandai Ski Area (30min) Ura-Bandai trail head
(4) Return trip from Okinajima Tozan-guchi (trail head)
Inawashiro (15min drive) Okinajima Tozan-guchi (80min) top of Inawashiro Resort Ski Area (2hrs 30min) Mt. Bandai peak (2hrs) top of Inawashiro Resort Ski Area (70min) Okinajima Tozan-guchi

■Mountains of Adatara (Mt. Numajiri, Mr. Io)
“That’s, Mt. Adatara-yama, that over there glistening is the Abukuma River.” Adatara-yama, read in a verse of “Chieko-sho” by Kotaro Takamura, is a chain of 1,700 meter volcanoes that form the watershed between The Pacific and The Japan Sea. It erupted in 1889, a year after the eruption of Mt. Bandai. Several eruptions followed until the last eruption at Numano-taira on July 17, 1900 costing 78 lives.
While it is gently sloped when viewed from a distance, the volcano exposes a rough surface along the routes. The views from the top of the mountain; the plains of Fukushima and Nihonmatsu to the east and the Bandai Plateau, Lake Inawashiro and Azuma Maountains to the west, are so magnificent that they offset the trouble of climbing.
Among several routes, the one from Dake Onsen hot spring is most recommended in terms of easiness and diversity of the trail.

◆Routes up Mt. Adatara
(1) Dake Onsen hot spring〜Mt. Adatara〜Numajiri Hot Spring
Inawashiro (50min drive) Dake Onsen (hot spring) (10min drive) Gondola base station (10min ride) Gondola Terminal (80min) Mt. Adatara peak (10min) Umano-se (30min) Mt. Funa-myojin (120min) Shiraito-no-taki look-out platform (5min) Numajiri Ski Area (40min) Numajiri Onsen (hot spring)
(2) Dake Onsen〜Mt. Adatara〜Kurogane-goya lodge〜Gondola base station
Inawashiro (50min drive) Dake Onsen (10min drive) Gondola base station (10min ride) Gondola Terminal (80min) Mt. Adatara (10min) Umano-se (40min) Kurogane-goya lodge (90min) Adatara-keikoku promenade (30min) Gondola base station
(3) Dake Onsen〜Mt. Adatara〜Yokomuki Hot Spring
Inawashiro (50min drive) Dake Onsen (10min drive) Gondola base station (10min ride) (80min) Mt. Adatara (10min) Umano-se (40min) Tetsuzan (60min) Mt. Minowa (120min) Yokomuki Hot Spring