Sanagisawa

The mountains around Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture make up a forested highland that sees surprisingly few visitors given how close it is to Tokyo. Sanagisawa covers a section of this terrain with trails ranging from short forest walks to full-day ridge hikes. The vegetation is dense, with deciduous forest giving way to conifer stands at higher elevations. Autumn color in October and November is particularly good along the lower trails. There's limited infrastructure here compared to more developed hiking areas, which is part of the attraction if you want a quiet day in the mountains within reach of Tokyo. The base town of Chichibu has good transport links by private rail from Ikebukuro, about ninety minutes direct.