The Nametoko Gorge walk

A gorge of smooth granite

Nametoko Gorge runs for about twelve kilometres along the uppermost Meguro River — a tributary of the Shimanto — in the mountains between Matsuno and Uwajima, inside Ashizuri-Uwakai National Park. The name means something like "smooth riverbed", and that is exactly what it is: pale granite worn into slabs, chutes and pools, with the water running clear over it. In summer it is one of Japan's better-known canyoning spots; its Yukiwa Falls, sliding down a single huge slab, is counted among the country's hundred famous waterfalls.

What the brochures undersell is how wild it feels. We met almost no one on the road in and very few people on the paths — this is deep, working forest that keeps its own housekeeping, and the trail had a couple of dead animals on it to prove the point. If Japanese nature sometimes feels curated, Nametoko does not.

Along the Meguro River

The walking starts at Mannen Bridge by the Morinokuni lodge, and the main path simply follows the river — over iron bridges, past pools and long stone slides, never far from the sound of water. A signboard at the trailhead lists walking times to each named rock and fall; Yukiwa Falls is about forty minutes in. The going on the main trail is easy and the river does all the entertaining.

The climb to 大嵓の滝

Partway along we left the river and took the mountain path up to the waterfall called 大嵓の滝. It is a proper climb — our track shows almost five hundred metres of ascent — through quiet forest first, then steeper and steeper, with ladders and ropes on the last stretch and slippery ground the whole way. In April the fall itself was more rock than water: a high, dark face streaked with white threads, and nobody there but us.

With the detour our day came to 7 kilometres and about three hours. Stick to the river path and it is a gentle walk; add the falls and it becomes a small mountain hike — boots, not sneakers.

After the walk

There is a lodge at the trailhead and even a pizzeria — closed when we were there, as it only opens on weekends — so bring water and food and treat anything open as a bonus.

We had slept the night before at Sukumo Resort Yashinoyu and drove on toward Uwajima afterwards, stopping at Morinokuni Poppo Onsen on the way — a great, simple public bath full of locals, with indoor and outdoor pools and a sauna, the water heated by a wood fire. Gorge, climb, onsen: the day sorts itself out.