Noboribetsu Jigokudani Valley

We visited Noboribetsu Hell Valley (Jigokudani) as part of an organized bus tour, and it was a great stop. Around 30–60 minutes is enough to walk the wooden paths, take photos, and enjoy the unique volcanic scenery. The view of the steaming rocks and colourful ground is truly impressive and gives a good sense of Hokkaido’s geothermal nature. As the name suggests, there’s a strong sulfur smell in the air, it’s natural and part of the experience, but some people might find it a bit intense. Visiting with a tour is very convenient since parking can be limited and the area fits well as a short stop between other sights. Definitely worth seeing once. It feels like standing on another planet or in one of the old Power Rangers Sets.

impressive and wonderful at the same time to walk around in this vulcanc area. It's great to watch and also a perfect and interesting place to visit for the whole family. when I was there it was a bit foggy, which made it even look a bit mystic too.

Visited in early January, on a weekday. Gorgeous hellscape, even in winter. Many vantage points to take pictures. Picturesque boardwalks. If you were hoping for a longer hike/explore be advised the path to Oyunuma area is blocked off in winter. There is a shop with nice souvenirs out front.

Parking fee is 500 yen for both parkings (pay one time only) We start walking from Jigokudani parking to Jigokudani observation deck, and continue to Tessen Ike spring pond. Great view but sulphur smelly is bad. After see the map, we think it’s not take much time to Onuyama pond by walk. So, we continue walking on Jigokudani and Onuyama nature trail. Unfortunately walking trail is not easy to walk since all leaves are fallen on the ground and snow is fallen recently. All the way of trail to Onuyama is so wet, a bit muddy, soft soil and covering with wet fallen leaves. Onuyama pond is so blue and beautiful, but it would be better if we came by car. We chose to skip footpath because of no time and we need time walk back to parking as well. We walked on another trail back to parking since it looks shorter and less time. This trail seem like walking in the forest. Deer was jumping out suddenly while walking. It shocked me. Total time is almost an hours to visit this place

No words needed. Must-Go place in Hokkaido. Hell Valley is simply incredible — with sulfur gas, steam, and boiling spring water erupting from the earth, the whole place truly lives up to its name. It’s like standing at the edge of the underworld. I visited just a few days ago, and the weather was absolutely perfect. Since I went on a Monday morning, it wasn’t too crowded, which made the experience even better. The only downside was that the hiking trail was closed, which was a bit of a letdown… But still — no question about it — I’d come back here in a heartbeat. 100% planning to visit again.

Noboribetsu Jigokudani is beautiful in winter, but the paths can be very slippery. It also gets busy with tour groups during the day. There are many hotels nearby, which is great because the sulfur smell can stick to your clothes. Most people make this their last stop and head back to shower or enjoy the onsen afterward.

This is a great opportunity to see volcano crater up close. The paths around the crater were very easy to walk on. Not only do you get to see the craters up close, the view was stunning with the autumn leaves in the background. The walk down to the natural foot bath was a bit more demanding. We saw many people struggling up the steep path afterwards. Just a tip that you can actually avoid that by just following the path out to the main road, which loops back to the start and is a much easier and more gentle walk up. While there wasn’t a proper pavement for pedestrians, the cars were considerate and we never felt unsafe walking on the road.

I visited Noboribetsu Jigokudani Valley for the first time at the beginning of winter around 5 p.m. There were still many travelers. The weather was very cold, and the strong smell of natural gas filled the air. The scenery was stunning — a true wonder of nature with steam rising from the ground. The sunset made the atmosphere even more magical. Parking costs 500 yen for a personal car. Toilets are available, but no Wi-Fi service here.

"Hell Valley" smells like sulfur due to the volcanic activity. It's a beautiful walk if you can endure the smell with lots of lookouts and beautiful trees. Bathroom is located in the beginning of the walk and many benches for resting between walks. Definitely a great stop when visiting Hokkaido.

Welcome to Hell. That's what our tour guide said as we entered the Noboribetsu area. Known for hot springs or onsen, Noboribetsu is a quaint town with lots of beautiful trees and streams flowing through it. Depending on wind direction, the smell of suphur (think rotten eggs) can be strong or mild. When visiting the lookout, you can either go up the stairs to a higher vantage point, or walk up past shops and the lavatory to a larger viewing area. Both options are recommended as you get different views and smells along the way. It looked like there are other walking trails but we were pressed for time so I didn't have much of an opportunity to explore. Definitely take the time to check out the lookout. Despite the strong sulphur smell, it's worth it.

There is a distinct smell of sulfur when you are in this area due to the volcanic activity. There are also lots of natural hot springs as a result of the volcanic activity. We walked around the area and went on a few of the trails around "Hell Valley". Definitely worth a visit when you are in Hokkaido.

Japan is such a spiritual country and this truly defines "Hell on Earth!" As the one tourist attraction in this onsen town (aside from of course, your hotel stay), Hell Valley does the area justice and I found myself engulfed in its sulfuric trance. Steam rises from the warm ground due to the volcanic activity in the area. This part helps to heat up all of the onsens in Noboribetsu so you must pay respects to these gods. Visitors can get up close and personal with the valley and it in turn is such a great experience. You can visually see the affects of the sulfur on the mountain scape and river flowing through. It's not all natural that the water is that murky, grey hue. A trip up to Noboribetsu would not be complete without a visit to this valley. Come during the day to see magnificent natural wonders, and come back at night to sense the heat on your skin. My favorite spiritual spot in the country still remains at Osorezan in Aomori, but this comes a close second. Admittedly I was put off by the swarm of tourists that flock to Noboribetsu for holiday, but if you can ignore them and smell the sulfur, you'll love your stay regardless. There's a dedicated parking lot for ¥500 but you are better off parking at your hotel and taking the short walk over to the valley.

Jigokudani means "Hell Valley." Yes it smells like hell or that aroma that is a cross between egg and durian but I've learned to appreciate that stink like how one appreciates Limburger or well, Durian. This are has many paths and is reminiscent of Yellowstone National Park where there are similar hot springs about. My favorite paths are the ones that lead to Oyunuma and the Oyunuma Brook Natural Footpath. Lots of nature but very close to town.

We stayed at Noboribetsu Karurus hot spring resort, which is a little far from this Valley of Hell. So we didn't have enough time to visit here during daytime, but a free event to promote the town called Oni Hanabi (demon's fireworks) is held on Thursday and Friday in June and July. The staff of the inn drove and picked up the guests from the accommodation to the event place free at night. Originally it was held on weekend, but it was overcrowded, as a result it has changed to Thursday and Friday. It starts at 20:30, but you should come 20 minutes or so earlier and take a more nice seat, which is next to the Japanese drum. Noboribetsu is a famous hot spring resort with an active sulfur vent. It smells sulfur, but you will be used to the smell soon (^^) Noboribetsu hot spring is a little bit different from Noboribetsu Karurus one. Probably its effect may be different. The event is as follows. Several demon-clad men dance to the accompaniment of the music performed by a Japanese drum. Then they shoot fireworks by holding them. It was so magnificent and mysterious!! Oni seems to have something to do with Shintoism, but it is irrelevant to religion. It is held just for attracting visitors. I encountered a lot of foreign tourists, especially Chinese and Korean. Unfortunatelly I've not found any Westerners. Hokkaido is the best place to visit from early to late summer. It has no rainy season. It is so cool without any air conditioner especially in the northern parts. I hope more and more Westerners will visit Hokkaido and have a fun time there.