Bandai-Asahi National Park

Spanning Fukushima, Niigata, and Yamagata prefectures, this large national park holds several of Japan's most significant volcanic and spiritual landscapes in one stretch of mountain terrain. Mt. Bandai's 1888 eruption partially collapsed its peak and created the polychromatic Goshikinuma Ponds, tinted by volcanic minerals and iron oxide. One of the buried valleys formed Lake Hibara, with the remains of Hibara Village still on the lakebed. In Yamagata, the three peaks of Dewa Sanzan have been a pilgrimage site for mountain ascetics for over 1,400 years. The Iide range supports Japanese black bears, serow, and native beech forest.