Roundtrip: Sayama and Tama Lakes, Seibukyujomae Station

Here is something different to finish the year: a lake loop instead of a river ride. I had been wanting to do this one for a long time and the mild sunny late autumn weather in Tokyo gave the perfect opportunity to go for it.  This one is also unusual since I start and finish at the same station, in front of the Seibu Station, buy hey it can’t always be perfect. Even though you’ll need to change trains in Nishitokorozawa, it’s just a walk across the platform.

Map of the lakes

From the Seibukyujomae station I followed the main road to the left and then took a small road branching right. It was so steep I had to go the highest gear! it goes past a temple and ends at the road, from where I turned left and eventually got to Sayama lake and it’s dam. I already knew my way around since I had already been to the area a few times last year in order to explore the remains of Totoro’s forest that dot the area.

From the far end of the dam I could see Mt Fuji with it’s winter coat, as well as the Okutama and Chichibu mountain ranges. Beyond that I crossed a small park and followed a road anti-clockwise around the lake.  There are a number of love hotels at the beginning and the road is in good state. A little further on, it becomes a dirt path and it was much more trying for my poor little city bike. In addition there are a lot of up and downs when moving to the far end of the lake, away from the dam so my gears had a good workout too. This is in fact the perfect course for a mountain bike and I saw a few along the way.

Eventually the path became quite nice with forest on both sides. Unfortunately there was a fence on the left side, the lake side, which was there to supposedly protect  the nature around the lake but in reality was just an eyesore. The trees look just as good on either side of the path. Since it was a Sunday, I saw quite a few people walking along the path as well. I saw various signs and forks leading to places which names I didn’t recognise and couldn’t find on my map, but I didn’t worry about it too much and stuck to hugging the lake contour.

A nice forest path

At one point I came upon an entrance in the fence on the left that led to a path where bicycles were not allowed. After inquiry, I found out that the path I was on did a circle of about 20 kilometres and that the fenced off path was like a short cut going down the middle – good to know. After a while I got to an open area with roads again and good clear maps of the area. I had reached the end of Sayama lake. There was a rock garden with supposedly some view points but the only good view point I found was from the observation tower about a few hundred meters on the road back.

The observation tower

From the top, I could see the Tanzawa range as well as Mt Takao, Okutama and Chichibu ranges. To the East, the skytree was visible. I had the rest of my lunch at the base of the tower and then continued on my way, now returning to my starting point along the other side of the Sayama lake. The path turned to dirt again with lots of downhill sections, rough on my bike but very beautiful on the eyes. There were lots of side paths which I wished to explore but they would have to wait for another time.

No fence here

Just before reaching the road again, I passed a kids playground with lots of things to climb on and play with. It looked fun but I was behind schedule and couldn’t linger. Fortunately progress was much swifter along the road and in no time I reached a fork. The road to the left led back to the Sayama dam but if I continued straight I would reach the Tama Lake and dam. I hadn’t really planned to do both but if the road was good i.e asphalt I could manage. I decided to risk it. Besides there were plenty of escape routes. The road to the Tama dam was easy and mostly slightly downhill and I got there in record breaking time.

The Tama lake route

The Tama dam and lake are pretty much the same as the Sayama ones except you can’t see Mt Fuji. However there is a good road that goes all the way around the lake. Not as beautiful but at least you can make good speed. There was a crossing with a rest area that made me hesitate but another cyclist told me it was straight ahead. Finally I got back on to the same road I was cycling along at the end of the Sayama lake tour except on the other side of the road.

Tama lake

I decided to hang around the Sayama dam for another half an hour so that I could see the sun set close to Mt Fuji (but not on top). It was beautiful but really cold, it is December after all. After that I quickly cycled half way down the dam and then had to push my bike down steps the other half and finally reached the station and caught the train just before it got pitch black.

The Sunset

Nishikurume river, Nobidome, Tamagawa and Sengawa Waterways, from Kiyose Station to Shakujikoen Station.

This was an epic bike ride that took me on a grand tour of West Tokyo. Let me explain from the beginning. I was researching the name of the river of one of my previous rides using photos of nature panels I had taken on those rides, when I noticed a thin blue line going straight across an area I knew for sure was riverless. After further investigation using Google Maps and zooming to nearly the highest magnitude, I saw it: the tiniest of waterways flowing at right angles of the Seibu Ikebukuro line near Kiyose station. If there is flowing water no matter how narrow, it’s fair game.

The main challenge was turning this straight line into a loop. It ran nearly straight all the way to Tamagawajouisui station which is deep West Tokyo. The Tamagawa Waterway (yousui means waterway in Japanese) is quite famous and has been recommended to me for it’s beauitiful nature. It runs all the way to Mitake station which is inconvenient for the return since I would need to change train lines twice. A way around would be to go North East following the Sengawa waterway just after Koganei Park and then continue to Shakujikoen station back on the Seibu Ikebukuro line. The downside was that it looked incredibly long. Once I had created the route it just begged to be tried.

Getting to the start point was easy: from Kiyose station, follow the tracks South East till you reach the West Kurume river. It’s quite narrow but you can’t miss it, a straight line of flowing water heading South West with a walking / cycling path running parallel to it. The perfect start to a cold November day.

A straight line between walking path and road.

December Oranges

Unfortunately it didn’t continue and soon the path disappeared and I was forced to cycle on a busy road. I was starting to see a lot of trees and stuff on the left side so at one point I attempted to find out whether there was a nicer path on the other side. I did find a small wooded area with beautiful autumn colours but unfortunately it was a dead end.

Wild and beautiful but no path

A great patch of woodland but leads to a dead end

There was no choice but to continue along the busy road. Luckily it soon became a small quiet road bicycle road again. On this particular stretch there were many trees lining the waterway and it was very colourful. I saw the famous fresh vegetable vending machines for which the area is famous for. Insert 100 yen into a locker style device that has transparent windows and you can get fresh cabbage, carrots, radish, etc…

A vegetable and a drink vending machine side by side

What a great bridge

The West Kurume river ends, or starts to be more accurate, just after Shinoume roadway. After that there is nothing for a few hundred meters, after which you arrive at Yasaka station (you’ll know after you ride under the train line). This is where the Nobidome waterway formally starts. The name literally means village fire stop and is similar to the firebreakers used to prevent the spread of forest fires.

The Nobime continued as a tree-lined bike friendly easy to follow and straight bicycle ride. It disappeared shortly around a high school but reappears soon afterwards. A dream to follow. Suddenly after crossing a road, that is nameless on Google Map, it enters a wonderful tree covered park and curves to the south. The forest with all its autumn colours was simply fantastic. Emerging from the forest the Nobidome became a slender canal flowing from the South West again. Shortly afterwards it disappeared for good and I arrived at the Higashiyamatoshi station. From there it’s approximatively another kilomter along a broad tree lined walkway till the Tamagawajosui station.

The Nobidome Waterway

It’s so wonderful to cycle here

The path is well sign-posted

The nicest section of the Nobidome

Only a narrow waterway though

Now on to the famous Tamagawa waterway!

The Tamagawa waterway is a wider than the Nobime, especially further west (I thought I saw a sluice and a small boat but I may be mistaken). Anyway at this stage I turned South East and started cycling at a slightly faster pace since I had fallen somewhat behind schedule, mainly because of all the photos I was taking.

My path: down the blue line on the right, across the middle then up the blue line on the left

The Tamagawa Waterway was as beautiful as I had been led to believe. First of all I was riding along a dirt pathway and not a road, Second the river was lined with thick vegetation on both sides that gave it a very jungle like look. Third, the autumn colours, a seasonal factor I admit, made it very beautiful indeed. Actually there were a lot of people walking alongside it, much more than you would expect on a weekday morning, which just goes to show what a popular place it is.

The Tamagawa waterway near Tamagawajousui Station

A very green waterway

Like a very thin forest cutting through West Tokyo

It was rare to get sections with no people

The path wasn’t the best for bicycling since there were many rocks and roots

Near Takanodai station

There were numerous bridges for taking photos

This fairytale ride had to end sometime and it did just after Takanodai station. From there the dirt pathway was too narrow and bumpy and I had to use the asphalt road instead. However since it wasn’t busy it wasn’t unpleasant and I was able to make good time. Eventually I arrived at the height of Koganei Park. This part wasn’t as pleasant since the tall beautiful trees had been replaced by shorter shrubbery.

Still beautiful though…

Finally I reached the start of the Sengawa waterway. It is easily missable if you don’t know it’s there. At the point where the Tamagawa waterway goes underground for a short while, you need to cross the street and take the large road heading North East. It was really an act of faith since no river was visible. Eventually I could make out something in the centre of the large road: some trees and a small path. I crossed the street and bingo, there it was, a thin silver thread of water that could only be the Sengawa waterway.

Wooden sign for the Sengawa waterway

Waterways are pretty straigthforward affairs

However it was extremely troublesome to follow. The small path was encompassed in a sort of island and very soon I had to cross 3 streets in order to continue the path further along which also turned out to be another island. Needless to say progress became very slow. The beginning of the Sengawa waterway is definitely not bicycle friendly. Finally I got away from the large street and on to some smaller streets that were easier to cycle along. From this point onwards, the No became very picturesque. A small river, small roads and small bridges, the perfect combination.

The Sengawa waterway flows through residential neighbourhoods

Nearing the end…

There were a couple of hairy points where the river went underground for about a hundred meters but I avoided losing any time thanks to Google maps and my phone’s GPS.   The river had slowly been turning East and finally came to an end at a busy highway. From  here I simply followed Sengawa street to Kamiigusa station on the Seibu Shinjuku line, then pushed North all the way to Shakujikoen station on the Seibu Ikebukuro line and hopped on a train back home after what was a four hour epic bike ride.

Furo River, from Shingaishi station to Musashifujisawa station

It was nice to finally get off at the station that takes it name from the river I had been cycling along the previous two times. However the purpose was not to follow the Shingaishi but a tributary, the Furo River. Since the Shingaishi was such a pleasant ride I decided to start a little downstream from where the Furo river joined it and cycle upstream. This was fairly simple to accomplish, just turn right outside the station, cross the tracks and head east till you hit the river (past the 7/11). Of course I still made a mistake and didn’t see that there was a path leading along the river directly from the bridge (this is the Shingaishi after all!) and went down the road behind some houses instead. I still managed to find my way back to the river relatively quickly.

Once I got on the Furo river, it was again a nice little dirt track on the top of an embankment following the river. However very soon I had a shock – the river which wasn’t so small suddenly became a stream and then disappeared. I was now riding next to an empty rocky riverbed.  Was I going to cycle along some rocks for the next couple of hours? Everything else pointed towards the existence of a river, a riverbank, bridges, signs bearing the river name…Maybe it only flowed in the spring when it rained more?

The missing river

Thankfully, a few hundred meters later, the river reappeared. First some puddles, then a small stream and finally a full-blown river. Where it went for those few hundred meters I have no idea. Underground maybe? In any case it became a pleasant river ride reminiscent of the Shigaishi with a dirt track next to the river. Eventually it became deep countryside with many fields on either side. I felt somewhat isolated since this river really takes you far away from any train station. I was cycling West so I could see the mountains of Western Tokyo and at one point Mt Fuji as well.

The river is back!

The countryside. Mt Fuji is on the horizon somewhere…

 

Eventually civilisation returned when I neared the Seibu Shinjuku line. I saw at least 12 cats around the houses next to the river, sure sign of civilised life. I also passed in front of a military aviation field – it was very impressive to see fighter jets take off from so close although I didn’t dare to take any photos. Just before reaching the Seibu Ikebukuro line, the Furo, which had been a dream to follow up to then, started playing hard to get. A litte further on there was a nice stretch but it didn’t last and eventually all traces of the river disappeared. It was just as good as it was getting late and I was close to Musashifujisawa station so I decided to abandon the Furo and make a beeline back to the station.

Civilisation again, and a heron.

Houses but also beautiful nature (can you spot the ducks?)

I’d like to add one final thought. Although most of the ride was in the countryside, it wasn’t as enjoyable as the Shingaishi and I would think twice before taking people here. It wasn’t always clean and sometimes felt run-down. Some areas around Tokrozawa have the same feeling.  With a little effort and development though it could be really nice and attract walkers and cyclists who could revitalise these forgotten areas.

Shingaishi River part II, from Kawagoe to Asakadai

Seeing how easy it had been to cycle along the Shingaishi the previous week I decided to try it from further upstream, Like the Iruma river it makes a half-circle arc around the city of Kawagoe, albeit a smaller one. Once again I managed to make a wrong turn just after leaving the station and ended up on the river lower than I had planned, which wasn’t a bad thing after all since further upstream didn’t seem ridable.

This part of the river has been somewhat developed and there was a small grassy area with a path along it. However it made for a bumpy ride since it was made of concrete blocks that didn’t connect properly. At the one point it ended suddenly and I had to carry my bike over the river (there were some stones placed for this purpose) and up a flight of steps – not a problem if one possesses a light folding bike. A little further I crossed over a picturesque bridge and then the river made a long curving bend to the right. Here the river became quite nice with many flowers and trees along the river bank.

The bridge

This was over too soon there was an unpleasant ten minutes of riding along a busy road with no river in sight. Finally I got back onto the river and was cycling through a suburban area. Eventually I had completed the semi-circle and went under a railway track that heads directly East of Kawagoe. From this point the ride got suddenly very interesting. The road next to the river became a dirt path perfect for walkers but also good for bicycles. The next hour or so was one of the best hours of cycling I had ever done in Tokyo. Cycling through countryside, grassy riverbanks, tree and bench lines straight ways I wondered how it was possible that I was in the suburbs of one of the biggest cities in the world. Occasionally I passed groups of walkers and caught glimpses of Mt Fuji to the West.

At one stage the river widened considerably and there were many people fishing in it. At that point I realised that I had somehow gone off course and that this wasn’t the Shingaishi anymore but some offshoot. I hurriedly cycled back and found the spot where the river split that I had somehow missed. As there is always a silver lining, I was rewarded with some pretty views of Mt Fuji in the other direction.

Shingaishi offfshoot with fishermen and Mt Fuji in the distance

The path continued pretty much the same as before. At the very end I reached an asphalt pedestrian / cycling path that was lined with Cosmos flowers. After the path came a little more difficult to follow and wasn’t as pretty anymore I decided to head for Asakadai station which happened to be close-by thanks to a fortunate bend in the river.

Back on track

The final stretch

Shirako river to Shigaishi river to Sumida river – Chikatetsu Akatsuka to Oji.

This course runs along three different rivers although the last two are technically the same since it’s a simple name change. The good point is that it is much closer to central Tokyo – it takes only about 15 minutes to get to the start point from Ikebukuro and I was able to cycle home instead of taking the train from Oji station in about 15 minutes as well.

After getting a pastry breakfast from a Denny’s nearby Chikatetsu Akatsuka station, I cycled to Higarioka park and explored it a little bit. There seems to be a nice bird watching area but unfortunately it was closed so early in the morning. It was rather frisky since this was early November and since there was a lot of shade in the park I decided to move on and try and find the Shirako. I had cycled along the first part of this river earlier this year so in a way this was like part II.

After leaving the park there was nice downhill slope for pedestrians and cyclists only. This was a good sign since rivers tend to be at the bottom of valleys. I quickly found a bridge and the Shirako flowing under it. I took a few minutes to cycle upstream in order to locate the last point I had reached during my previous excursion. Having satisfied my curiosity I continued downstream. At first there wasn’t a path next to the river so I had to follow the road. Because of this, I discovered quite a nice steep staircase. For some reason the Shirako is in a deep river valley even though it is not a very wide river. It must be very old.

The Shirako river

A steep staircase

Finally I got to a nice path that I could cycle along and that followed the river. It ran as straight as an arrow all the way to Shingaishi river. There was only one interruption on the way because of some road works and I had to take a detour through a park where I saw a game of hockey on skates, a nice change from the usual baseball games.

Shingaishi river was pretty easy to cycle along as well to the point where it was even a little boring. Both sides could be used for cycling and it runs parallel to the Arakawa river which I briefly visited to have a peek at Mt Fuji. The area is home to a number of factories and thus there is not much to see. After a while I got to some grassy banks, the top and bottom of which could both be used for cycling. Later on I passed by a park which had a great play castle for kids and a really long rolling slide.

A factory along the Shingaisha river

The very long rolling slide

Eventually Shigaishi river became Sumida river. The Tokyo Sky tree came into sight. I had walked through here last year before I had a folding bicycle and I had been following the Arakawa, Sumida and Shakuji rivers. However it had been on the other side and since then there there had been some construction and the area was now more bicycle friendly. I was now at the height of Shakuji river and I decided to take the most direct route back to Oji station since this part of the Shakuji wasn’t difficult to follow. After Oji station it was a simple matter of following Meji doori directly back to Ikebukuro station.

Iruma River to Arakawa River, Kawagoe to Wakoshi

Ten days later I returned to continue along the Kawagoe Sayama cycling route but this time in the other direction. Leaving the station, I headed towards the bridge I was supposed to cross the previous time but there was no need to cross it since at this point the cycling path switched to the right hand side when cycling downstream.

It was really lovely, cycling in the crisp early morning autumn weather. This was the Saitama countryside – fields on every side and the outline of the Chichibu mountains visible in the distance. The bonus was that Mt Fuji could be seen as well although I was cycling away from it.

Not even fields just nature

Path leading off the cycling path to who knows where.

The Iruma makes a semi-circle with Kawagoe at it’s centre so eventually instead of cycling North I was cycling South and I could see Mt Fuji again. It was surprising how fast one cycles on a good cycling path especially when there are no roads to cross – the cycling path goes under each road or railtrack. I had meant to cross over to the other side at the end of the cycling path to join another one coming from Shinrinkoen but I rode ride past it without realizing! at this point, the Iruma river had flowed into the Arakawa river and had become quite wide. Croquet made way for golf as the sport of choice for retirees.

Mt Fuji could be seen intermittently between the buildings but kept my attention even more were the numerous grasshoppers that were sunning on the asphalt road. I don’t think I’ve ever such big ones. When I cycled by they would fly away at the very last moment, quite thrilling in a strange way. There was also a number of brave caterpillars attempting to cross the cycling road.

An oversized grasshopper although it’s hard to see it from the photo

Finally I reached a point on the river where I had already cycled in May so I decided to leave the Arakawa river and continue along another smaller river flowing into it. To be honest I don’t even know the name of this tributary since it is not marked on Google Maps. At first, I was following a busy roas with trucks and I was thinking “This sucks”. Suddenly I got to a bridge before which there were some steps leading to the path next to the river. It was pretty run down and overgrown but I decided to take a chance on it. My main worry was that it was forbidden but there weren’t any signs so I carried my bicycle down the stairs and pushed it along the path.

After 50 meters of so I crossed a man walking in the other direction. This was reassuring since this meant that the path led somewhere. Soon I came across a most wonderful scene: five white as snow ducks and a larger water fowl which could be a duck or a goose but I’m not sure. What I’m sure of, is that it was pretty large compared to other ducks I have seen in Tokyo. I love seeing wildlife on the waterways of a big city such as Tokyo,

Tokyo wildlife

This river walk slowly became more beautiful and up kept compared to the first part and I was really glad that it had caught my eye. There were lots of trees and greenery along this section of the river.

It came to an end all too soon and the last part consisted of cycling through the suburbs of Wako city, pretty but nothing compared to the previous section. Eventually I crossed the railway line and decided to follow the river as long as there was a ridable course next to it.  At last the river disappeared underground and I cycled back to Wako station.

 

Iruma River Part I, Kawagoe to Irumashi

Kawagoe is a good starting point for river cycling since there are many rivers that flow through the area. I got to Kawagoe station nice and early and had a quick breakfast at the station bakery. I had to interrupt it to go out and shoo away the bicycle police who were threatening to label my bike parked on the street in front of the shop. Although there was virtually no risk of having my bicycle confiscated since I was going to move it in five minutes, I just didn’t like the idea of them writing down my bicycle information,

After breakfast I promptly set out in the general direction of the Iruma river and promptly got lost. No sooner had I started out that I had to resort to my GPS to correct my course. One good thing came out of my waywardness, is that I got to spot Mt Fuji. Eventually I got back on course and arrived at my target, Kawagoe park which doubles as a water park in the summer.

I bicycled around the small lake, up the dike and down into the small park area right next to the river (which was hidden by vegetation though). Unfortunately you couldn’t exit through the park and I had to cycle back on my tracks to get back on top of the dike. I didn’t know it at the time but if I had cycled in the opposite direction and crossed the bridge (as other cyclists had been doing), I would have come across a very nice cycling path that follows a portion of the Iruma river. In the end I only discovered this, after in frustration I crossed the next bridge since I wasn’t making any progress among dirt roads and dead ends on the other side. Once I crossed the bridge it was smooth riding till close to the end. This cycling path is called the Kawagoe Sayama Cycling Path. There are a number of these in Japan but not that many with easy access from where I live unfortunately.

Kawagoe Sayama Cycling Path

At one point I want through a nice park (which name I cannot read on the map). There was a field of cosmos, a church like building and many retirees playing croquet (retirees playing various games is a common sight here).

Cosmos and church

At last I reached the end of what was a blissful and worry free ride, at route 299 to be exact. I was close to Iruma city. I crossed the bridge in an attempt to find a path on the other side of the river but found only a dead end. So finally I gave up and cycled back to Iruma station. As I still had some time and as an extra bonus, I cycled through Inariyama park until the station of the same name.

Japanese rivers have been heavily transformed to fit the needs of the city

 

The Chichibu mountains can be seen in the distance

I had to print out a map from google maps, trace the route then take a photo of the paper map since Google Maps doesn’t allow you to add routes – how annoying is that?

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