Snow Monkey Park: Monkeys in Hot Springs!

The Snow Monkey Park (officially Jigokudani Park 地獄谷野猿公苑) is a famous hidden gem nestled in the mountains of Nagano. Honestly, other than the monkeys and how adorable they are, there’s nothing else to do in the area.

Budget: JPY9,180 (~USD86)

• JPY6,120. Round trip bus from Shinjuku Station to Nagano Station, using the Willer Bus Pass.
• JPY3,600. Unlimited pass for transportation between Nagano Station to Snow Monkey Park, including entrance. This will basically allow you to stop anywhere in between. There’s a bus that shuttles people from Nagano Station to the Monkey Park, or you can take the train and stop by an onsen town, Yudanaka.
• Note: We wild-camped so we didn’t pay for accommodations. Accommodations will be around JPY3,000 per head for hostels.

Visit Date 

Feb 29-March 1, 2020

When to Go

Winter – so around December to February, ideally late January so it’s the coldest possible season, and there’s a higher chance that the monkeys will actually take a dip into the hotspring.

Special Notes

• The park opens at 9am, and closes around 4 or 5pm, so plan accordingly. Monkeys are fed throughout the day, but the highest number we saw was early morning.
• The path can get muddy, so do not wear your pretty white shoes.
• Buses are rare (sometimes once every hour), so time your visit well.

Itinerary

Saturday

• 07:10am. Bus, Shinjuku Bus Terminal to Nagano Station.
• 11:40am. Arrival at Nagano Station, find lunch. There’s not a lot in Nagano Station, but they have some tables to hang out at the basement. Just go down near the groceries, and once you see the Baskin and Robbins stall, there are about four tables you can sit at while you eat lunch. There’s plenty of stalls to choose cheap food from.
• 01:30pm. Train from Nagano Station to Yudanaka Station.
• 02:40pm. Arrival at Yudanaka Station. Yudanaka Station is a hot spring town, and we saw at least three free foot hot springs – one is right next to the station (once you exit, turn left and left again. You can see it on your left side, less than 50 meters away from the station).
• Walk around, camp. Our camp spot was a shelter near the shrine, which is well covered, and close to a restroom. Here’s the google maps pin.

Sunday

• 06:00am. Wake up, pack tent, eat breakfast. Go back to Yudanaka Station.
• 08:30amish. Bus, Yudanaka Station to the Snow Monkey Park. I’m not sure as to the schedule, but it has to be around this time as they time it with the 9am opening of the monkey park.
• 08:45amish. Snow Monkey Park bus stop, walk to the park. It’s quite a nice stroll, but prepare for muddy water.
• 09:00am. Arrival at Snow Monkey Park!
• 12:00pm. Head out, look for a nearby hot spring. There’s one right at the entrance/exit, but when we were there the place was closed, so we ended up going here. Our bus to Shinjuku is at 6pm, so we had a lot of extra time and decided to walk back to Yudanaka Station, and kill time at the foot onsens there.
• 02:50pm. Train from Yudanaka Station to nagano Station.
• 04:15pm. Arrival at Nagano Station, hang out at the food court and find something for dinner.
• 06:00pm. Bus, Nagano Station to Shinjuku Bus Terminal.
• 10:35pm. Arrival at Shinjuku Bus Terminal.

The Snow Monkey Pass!

The shrine near where we camped for the day. Take note - we did not camp on the shrine, but right below it, next to the playground. 

The next day, we hanged our tent to dry while we had our breakfast. The one on the left is the cover of the tent, while the  one on the right is the ground mat. 

He's much more patient than I am at taking photos, but the other folks in there were carrying the big guns. 

And this is actually it. Just one shrine, and that one shrine has served as the feature photo of the millions of Snow Monkey pictures. 

The monkeys come in droves during feeding time, but they turn their backs to us. :(