Abe Waterfall (abe-no-otaki [安倍の大滝])

Umegashima Onsen / Aoi Ward / Shizuoka City, Shizuoka, Japan

About Abe Waterfall (abe-no-otaki [安倍の大滝])

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Abe Waterfall (Abe-no-otaki [安倍の大滝]; Abe Great Falls) seemed like one of the off-the-beaten-path waterfalls near the Umegashima Onsen Resort in the Shizuoka Prefecture.

The waterfall dropped an impressive 80m (though I’ve seen its height also quoted at 90m) making it one of Japan’s tallest permanent waterfalls.

Abe_Otaki_129_04072023 - The Abe Great Falls or Abe-no-otaki Waterfall
The Abe Great Falls or Abe-no-otaki Waterfall

If we really wanted to extend our time in the mountains of the Minami-Alps (Southern Alps) just north of Shizuoka City, we could have also bathed in the public onsens of Umegashima Onsen.

Nevertheless, the natural scenery attained by doing this moderate hike to an impressively tall and high volume waterfall definitely made us glad that we made the detour to experience a part of Japan most tourists miss out on.

The Hike To Abe Great Falls

Because the Abe Great Falls is situated deep in the mountains, there are complications that come with that.

First, to even reach the trailhead (let alone the Umegashima Onsen; see directions below), you have to drive on a long, narrow, and winding road (which can be single-lane in several spots).

Abe_Otaki_010_04072023 - Context of the narrow Route 29 to Umegashima next to the signed turnoff (if you can read the kanji) for the Abe Otaki Waterfall on the right
Context of the narrow Route 29 to Umegashima next to the signed turnoff (if you can read the kanji) for the Abe Otaki Waterfall on the right

If you’re a passenger that’s prone to motion sickness, then you’ll probably want to make sure you’re sleeping (or focusing on the road if you can’t sleep).

Second, depending on the snowpack, access to the Abe Otaki Waterfall may not be possible if it’s too early in the season due to the presence of snow.

During our April 2023 visit, Japan actually experienced a warmer-than-normal Spring (which caused an earlier sakura or cherry blossom bloom by a week or two), and that facilitated our early-season visit.

I did email the Shizuoka Tourism Office for the latest conditions, and they confirmed that there wouldn’t be issues for our visit.

Abe_Otaki_064_04072023 - There was a surprising amount of trail maintenance for such a remote waterfall such as this arrangement of felled trees held up by live trees as perhaps a means of landslide mitigation along the Abe Otaki Trail
There was a surprising amount of trail maintenance for such a remote waterfall such as this arrangement of felled trees held up by live trees as perhaps a means of landslide mitigation along the Abe Otaki Trail

Finally, as with any watercourse in the presence of steep gorges and mountainsides, there is the possibility of avalanches, landslides, and flooding, which can close the trail for extended periods of time (even indefinitely).

That said, we did notice that the Abe-no-otaki Trail was well maintained, which reinforced our confidence that this trail is open more often than it is closed.

Anyways, according to my trip logs, the hike to the Abe Great Falls is about 4km round trip (though the signage here suggested it was more like 2.4km round trip) in a generally uphill trajectory.

It took us upwards of 2 hours to do this hike without rushing, but this doesn’t include the driving detour to get to the trailhead, which can be about an hour’s drive north of Shizuoka City.

Abe_Otaki_079_04072023 - Looking towards what I'm calling a 'waffle wall', which I believe was set up as a means of avalanche mitigation
Looking towards what I’m calling a ‘waffle wall’, which I believe was set up as a means of avalanche mitigation

So you’re really looking at about a half-day excursion to experience this waterfall, which we’ll go into more detail about in the next section…

Experiencing The Abe Great Falls

Starting from either of two car parks by the Abe Great Falls Trailhead, we promptly descended towards the first of three swinging bridges.

This first bridge (which was the longest of the three bridges) spanned the Abe River and its wide valley, and it was quite sturdy.

Once beyond the bridge, we kept to the right at the junction, which then descended towards a second swinging bridge going over a high-flowing tributary of the Abekawa (安倍川 or Abe River).

Abe_Otaki_041_04072023 - Julie and Tahia going across the bouncy second swinging bridge on the way to the Abe-no-otaki Waterfall near Umegashima Onsen
Julie and Tahia going across the bouncy second swinging bridge on the way to the Abe-no-otaki Waterfall near Umegashima Onsen

By the way, the path coming in from the left at the end of the first bridge was closed during our visit, and I’m guessing that it was an alternate footpath for the falls from the Umegashima Onsen.

Anyways, although the second bridge wasn’t as long as the first one, it was the scariest because it was bouncier and more open to dropoffs.

It was also suspended pretty high over the tributary with a pair of man-modified waterfalls to further keep things interesting.

With this bridge, it was best to not have too many people use it at the same time (having one person at a time made things less bouncier or less prone to constructive interference).

Abe_Otaki_074_04072023 - Tahia and Julie going across one of many bridges along the trail to Abe Great Falls, and there's often an intermediate waterfall like this one at these bridges
Tahia and Julie going across one of many bridges along the trail to Abe Great Falls, and there’s often an intermediate waterfall like this one at these bridges

Once beyond this bridge, the path then narrowed and pretty much followed the south side of the tributary stream going over a combination of steps, slopes, and some bridges (often times with intermediate waterfalls).

It was during this roughly 1km or so stretch that we noticed the trail maintenance that took place here (e.g. felled logs wedged and arranged against sturdy live trees parallel to the trail as well as waffle walls for avalanche mitigation).

Eventually, the trail reached a third swinging bridge, which was the shortest in length, but it traversed another interesting series of cascades.

After this bridge, the trail resumed its uphill climb while clinging to landslide-prone ledges before finally reaching the end in front of the Abe Great Falls (about 2km from the trailhead).

Abe_Otaki_091_04072023 - Approaching the third swinging bridge, which traversed an attractive cascade
Approaching the third swinging bridge, which traversed an attractive cascade

There was a sheltered lookout above as well as a lower lookout closer to the river, where the falls blasted it with mist so it was cold, wet, hard to take pictures, and the rocky footing here was quite slippery.

After having our fill of the falls, we went back the way we came, which ultimately took us around 2 hours 15 minutes overall away from the car.

Even though our visit took place on a Saturday in the second week of April, we only saw maybe 3 or 4 other small parties of Japanese hikers the whole time, which attested to how lightly-visited the Abe Great Falls is.

Authorities

The Abe Waterfall resides in the Aoi Ward within the Minami Alps north of the Shizuoka City in the Shizuoka Prefecture. It may be administered by the Umegashima Onsen District. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Official Shizuoka City Tourism Website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: umegashima, shizuoka, suspension bridges, swinging bridges, waffle walls, japan top 100, abe river, aoi ward



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Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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