3 Best Sights in Shiretoko National Park, Hokkaido

A stop for every tour bus route in the region, this collection of small lakes sits on a forested precipice above the ocean. It takes just over an hour to walk around all five lakes on boardwalk paths, and there are some newer boardwalks for the city slickers who don't want to get their shoes dusty. The lakes are lovely reflecting pools for the mountains, but crowds do disturb the idyll a bit. Luckily, most tour groups only circle the first two lakes. Park at the Nature Center, and get bus tickets for the 20-minute drive Shiretoko Goko and beyond. Guided tours off the boardwalk paths are also available depending on the season. Check their website for available guides. During certain times (bear season or times when the ecosystem is particularly sensitive), you might have to pay for a guide or pay to attend a lecture before setting out.

Kamui means "spirit" or "god" in the Ainu language, and there's something wondrous, almost otherworldly, about this tumbling hot waterfall on the north shore under Io-zan (Mt. Io, as in Sulphur Mountain). Hot water rushes down the mountain through a series of multicolor falls and pools. Wear shoes that can get wet as you will scramble up over slippery rocks to a couple of pools higher upstream; the park staff are there to help you up down and caution you not to go much farther than the roped-off third pool. Access is by car or bus only (at certain times of the year) from early June to early November.

Towering 5,448 feet along the spine of the peninsula, Mt. Rausu is snow-covered from October to June. The most accessible trailhead is 5 km (3 miles) east of Utoro behind the Hotel Chi-no-hate; if you are a fast hiker, you can walk for one hour, 20 minutes to a 1,920-foot rocky outcrop, then another two hours to the top. From there trails head west (two hours) to meet the Utoro-Rausu highway at Shiretoko Pass, or go over the ridge and down to Rausu (three hours). Check weather conditions before hiking, sign the trailhead books, and fix a bear bell to your backpack.

Aching muscles can be soaked in open-air hot springs waiting at the end of the hike: Iwaobetsu Onsen, just below the Hotel Chi-no-hate parking lot, has four steaming rocky pools. Near the trailhead and campsite on the Rausu side, look for Kuma-no-yu, two boiling pools areas for men and women separated by some unfortunate concrete and rusty pipes, but fenced in for privacy.