About Kuwanoki Waterfall (kuwanoki-no-taki [桑ノ木の滝])
The Kuwanoki Waterfall (Kuwanoki-no-otaki [桑ノ木の滝]; Kuwanoki Falls) is perhaps the nearest waterfall to the city of Shingu that is among Japan’s Top 100 Waterfalls as gazetted by the Ministry of the Environment.
In my experiences, waterfalls in close proximity to a city tend to have some degree of compromise (i.e. adverse impact) to the natural settings, but in this instance, that was not the case!
Heck, even though I was able to drive to the trailhead from Shingu within a half-hour (and I even noticed a bus stop opposite the trailhead so accessing it without self-driving is a possibility), this place felt strangely off-the-beaten-path.
Indeed, visiting this 21m waterfall was delightfully serene and quiet for me as I was the only person on the trail when I made my mid-April 2023 in the mid-morning of a weekday.
In addition to the peaceful experience that I enjoyed, as you can see from the photo above, the Kuwanoki Waterfall also possessed a classical rectangular shape (the kind that my wife really likes to see)!
Now I’ve been made aware that the word “kuwanoki” (桑ノ木) means “mulberry trees” as there’s apparently an abundance of them (or used to be) around this waterfall.
To be honest though, I don’t really know my trees and plant species nearly as much as an enthusiast or academic would so I probably couldn’t tell you if they’re still around the waterfall or not as of my visit.
Nevertheless, this was a fairly short hike on a well-maintained trail that goes past a local cemetery, a shrine, and even a logjam as the trail does get a little bit rough towards the end.
From the car park or bus stop by the bridge over the Takada River (高田川 or Takadagawa) along the prefectural road 230 (see directions below), I crossed the bridge towards what appeared to be a local cemetery.
The trail went around the local cemetery (as well as branching further upstream along the Takada River, which I didn’t pursue), and then followed a smaller stream into the Kuwanoki Gorge (桑ノ木谷).
At around 200m from the local cemetery, I then encountered an outdoor shrine called the Oga Hachiman Jinja Shrine, which fronted some kind of alcove that might be the subject of worship here.
Continuing along the trail shortly beyond the shrine entrance, I then crossed a bridge over the stream responsible for the Kuwanoki Gorge, and then followed the signed path further upstream along its east bank.
Note that there were other trails branching off from this bridge, but they were labeled private.
Anyways, the trail continued to narrow and hug some ledges and stream banks alongside the base of the Kuwanoki Gorge, and the trail seemed to quickly get a little rougher the further I went.
Even though the trail seemed to get a good deal of maintenance (as evidenced by the presence of bridges, railings, and planks to help with the footing), there were still some roots and rocks to climb over.
I’d imagine there’s a constant battle between the chaos that Nature can throw at you, and the energy invested to maintain some sense of order (i.e. keeping this trail in good condition for safe hiking).
I even noticed there was a logjam in the stream at around 200-300m from the bridge, which further underscored how easy it is for Nature to undermine the trail maintenance with a flood or a landslide here and there.
Nonetheless, by about 1.2km (according to my trip logs) from the trailhead, I reached the end of the official trail.
However, in order to get a good look at the Kuwanoki Falls, I had to do a bit of slippery rock scrambling, which is definitely not for everyone (but that’s how I got the picture you see at the top of this page).
Although I couldn’t read the Japanese signs at the end of the trail, it was clear that there was definitely an element of danger in trying to improve the experience so you’d be doing so at your own risk.
Overall, I spent a little over an hour away from the car though I took my time, because the literature says that it should only take about 20 minutes hike in each direction.
Finally, I’ve seen Google Maps and Google Search call this waterfall by “Kuwanokino Falls”, which doesn’t sound right, because the particle “no” (or の) shows possession or modifies an adjective/noun in Japanese.
Thus, it doesn’t need to be in the English translation of its place name (e.g. you don’t see Nachi Falls referred to as “Nachino Falls”).
Authorities
The Kuwanoki Waterfall resides near Shingu of the Wakayama Prefecture. It is administered by the Ministry of the Environment. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Shingu City Tourist Association website.
Kuwanoki Falls sits within the southern end of the Kumano Mountains close to the city of Shingu (新宮).
As far as I was concerned, self-driving here was actually quite straightforward.
Basically, I took the E42 (from Nachikatsuura, where I was staying) to its end within the city of Shingu.
Then, I turned left at a traffic light where the main throughfare (Route 42) intersected with the Route 168, and I followed this road for just under 6km.
From there, I turned left onto the Prefectural Road 230 for just under 2km where there’s a not-so-well-signed car park at a bend just before a signed footbridge across the Takada River.
Once I figured out that this small lot by some garden and building was supposed to be the trailhead parking (at least from what I could tell with my limited Japanese), then I had to walk to the footbridge to start the hike.
Overall, this drive took me about 30 minutes though it ought to be less.
Maybe it was because I wasted some time trying to figure out GoogleMaps on my phone and I wasn’t successful.
So it turned out I didn’t need GoogleMaps anyways as I just had to remember how to navigate the old school way by reading signs and glancing at Gaia GPS to act as my real-time offline “paper” map.
For geographical context, Shingu was 16km (under 30 minutes drive) north of Nachikatsuura, 23km (over 30 minutes drive) south of Kumano, 117km (over 2.5 hours drive) south of Yoshino, 235km (3.5 hours drive) south of Nara, 228km (3.5 hours drive) southeast of Osaka, and 217km (over 3 hours drive) southwest of Nagoya.
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Long sweep checking out the falls from near the middle of the creek after a slippery sit-and-scoot scramble
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