Daikozen Temple

The 1300-year-old mountaintop temple of Daikozen-ji has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries, but today's pilgrims mostly come in autumn. That's when the maples and gingkos that litter the temple's precincts turn glorious shades of red and yellow. A long staircase is the only way to reach the temple groups but the foliage is more than worth the effort. A large parking area is a five-minute walk down the road.