Aug 23, 2013 - 1 min read

Onnenai High Moor Community

A Walk into Kushiro's Natural Wonderland

By Chris Barnes

Community writer

The path is equally impressive during the summer and foliage colours and wildlife change almost weekly

The wooden path sits inches above the wetland, allowing visitors to get up close and personal with the wetland

The car park entrance features a nice walk through the thick forest before entering the wetland walkway

The Onnenai wooden path walkway is 3km in total, but visitors can break up the walk by taking various shorter routes

As with the dense population of plant and bird life, the wooden path is also a fantastic place to observe insects

Beautiful summer colour surrounds the 3km path

There are various information boards along the path which highlight some of the species you are likely to encounter

The entrance to the Onnenai High Moor Community from the roadside car park

The Onnenai High Moor Community features a circular wooden path that allows visitors to explore the wetlands of Kushiro's Shitsugen National Park. As you walk along the wooden path, you are likely to encounter seasonal bird life, bogs and mires with reeds, sedges, peat moss crops, alder forests and various kinds of seasonal plant life.

During the summer, the dense vegetation surrounds the path and you really feel a sense of being engulfed by the wetland. I highly recommend visiting the Onnenai Visitor Center which is located at the start of the 3km path, as it features an audio visual education room, various exhibition boards and information boards which feature daily reports on plant life and animals spotted along the path.

The Onnenai High Moor Community is located off Prefectural Route 53 between Kushiro and Tsurui Village.

The center is open 10:00 ~ 17:00 April to October & 10:00 ~ 16:00 November to March, and features wheelchair accessibility.