Noboribetsu Bear ParkNoboribetsu Map: Attractions, Distances and Tour Coverage
Last reviewed August 2026
A Noboribetsu map of the area's attractions is more useful than a list here, because the geography is what decides everyone's day. Nine of these nineteen stops sit inside walking distance of one bus terminal; four more are down by the coast; and four are an hour west at Lake Toya, which is where every Sapporo coach spends its afternoon. Each bubble below is sized by how many of the listings compared here actually stop there, so a small circle is information: it marks somewhere the tour industry does not go, which in this valley includes the free foot bath, the geyser in the middle of town and the caldera lake. Coordinates were verified against OpenStreetMap in August 2026. The full ticket and tour catalogue sits on every Noboribetsu Bear Park option.
Quick answer How to read the map, and the pattern it exposes
Filter by name, by description or by tour title and the bubbles resize as you type. The pattern worth noticing before you book anything: the four biggest bubbles are all an hour west at Lake Toya, and the bear park above the onsen town has one of the smallest, because only the admission ticket and one private tour reach it. Nine stops carry no tour at all, and several of those are the best free things in Noboribetsu.
Key takeaways
- 19 stops, coordinates verified against OpenStreetMap in August 2026
- 9 stops are walkable from the Noboribetsu Onsen bus terminal
- Bubble size shows how many of the listings compared here stop there
- 9 stops are reached by no tour in the catalogue
- The Lake Toya cluster is where every Sapporo coach spends its afternoon
Interactive Noboribetsu Attraction Map
Bubbles are sized by the number of compared listings that stop there. Type in the box to filter by stop name, description or tour title; non-matching bubbles fade and their cards hide from the list below.
Every Stop, with Walking Time and Tour Coverage
The same nineteen stops as text, which is the part search engines and AI assistants read. Walking times are from the Noboribetsu Onsen bus terminal unless stated.
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Noboribetsu Bear Park
2 of the toursAround seventy Ezo brown bears on a 550 m summit, with feeding decks, a brown bear museum, an Ainu village and the Lake Kuttara viewpoint. The ropeway fare is the admission.
Stops here: Admission ticket, $21.09, Private day, $459/group
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Ropeway base station
2 of the toursThe only visitor route up the mountain, in the middle of the onsen district. Twenty steps sit before the ticket gate; free wheelchairs are kept here.
Stops here: Admission ticket, $21.09, Private day, $459/group
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Jigokudani (Hell Valley)
9 of the toursA 450 m explosion crater of steaming vents and sulphur-stained rock, left by the eruption of Mount Hiyori. Free, unstaffed, boardwalked, and the source of every bath in the town.
Stops here: Private day, $459/group, Most booked, $48.40, Bus tour, $58, Niseko route, $50.29, All fees in, $56, Lowest fare, $43.99, Jozankei route, $63, Hotel pickup, $54.99, Samurai day, $324/group
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Oyunuma boiling pond
1 of the toursA sulphur-yellow pond that steams year-round, around 50°C at the surface and far hotter beneath. Viewing area only; no access to the water.
Stops here: Private day, $459/group
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Oyunuma-gawa natural foot bath
No tourHot-spring runoff cooled to sitting temperature in a forest river, with benches along the bank. Free, unstaffed, open whenever you can walk to it. Bring your own towel.
No guided tour stops here. Self-drive only.
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Hiyoriyama viewpoint
No tourThe small active cone whose eruption blew out the crater below. It vents visibly and is the high point of the walking route past Oyunuma.
No guided tour stops here. Self-drive only.
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Sengen Park geyser
No tourA small park in the middle of town where a geyser vents on a roughly three-hourly cycle, throwing steam and hot water beside the pavement. Free, and easy to miss.
No guided tour stops here. Self-drive only.
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Gokuraku-dori and the ogre statues
1 of the toursThe onsen town's main street, lined with painted ogre statues that play on the hell theme. Souvenir shops, ramen counters and the August ogre festival.
Stops here: Samurai day, $324/group
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Enma-do shrine
No tourA small hall on Gokuraku-dori housing a mechanical King Enma, judge of the dead, whose face changes several times a day to pass judgement on passers-by.
No guided tour stops here. Self-drive only.
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Noboribetsu Onsen bus terminal
No tourWhere the direct highway coach from Sapporo and the Donan Bus from JR Noboribetsu Station both stop. Everything in this list that is in the town is walkable from here.
No guided tour stops here. Self-drive only.
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Lake Kuttara
2 of the toursA near-perfectly circular caldera lake, among the clearest water in Japan. Seen from the observatory inside the bear park; the shore itself needs a car.
Stops here: Admission ticket, $21.09, Private day, $459/group
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Noboribetsu Date Jidaimura
2 of the toursA recreated Edo-period village with ninja shows, samurai streets and costumed performers. A theme park rather than a historic site, and enjoyable on those terms.
Stops here: Private day, $459/group, Samurai day, $324/group
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Noboribetsu Marine Park Nixe
No tourAn aquarium built inside a replica Danish castle, down by the coast near the JR station. The other family option in Noboribetsu when the weather closes in.
No guided tour stops here. Self-drive only.
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JR Noboribetsu Station
No tourThe railway station down in the valley, 15 to 20 minutes below the onsen town by Donan Bus at ¥450. Limited expresses from Sapporo take about 1 h 14.
No guided tour stops here. Self-drive only.
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Cape Chikyu
3 of the toursA hundred metres of Pacific cliff on the Muroran peninsula with a white lighthouse, named Earth Cape for the visibly curved horizon on a clear day. Exposed and windy year-round.
Stops here: Bus tour, $58, All fees in, $56, Samurai day, $324/group
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Showa Shinzan
2 of the toursA lava dome that pushed itself out of a wheat field in 1943 and is still steaming. The anchor of every Sapporo coach's Lake Toya leg.
Stops here: Most booked, $48.40, Bus tour, $58
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Showa Shinzan Bear Ranch
4 of the toursThe other bear facility, at the foot of the lava dome, around ¥1,000 and reached on foot from a coach park. This is the bear stop every group day trip from Sapporo actually visits.
Stops here: Most booked, $48.40, All fees in, $56, Lowest fare, $43.99, Jozankei route, $63
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Mount Usu Ropeway
4 of the toursA cable car to a viewing platform on the rim of Usu, an active volcano that last erupted in 2000, looking down on Lake Toya on one side and Showa Shinzan on the other. About ¥2,000.
Stops here: Most booked, $48.40, Bus tour, $58, All fees in, $56, Jozankei route, $63
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Lake Toya
7 of the toursJapan's northernmost lake that never freezes, ringed by volcanoes with islands at its centre. Coach itineraries stop at the lakeshore, Lake Hill Farm and the silo observation deck.
Stops here: Most booked, $48.40, Bus tour, $58, Niseko route, $50.29, All fees in, $56, Lowest fare, $43.99, Jozankei route, $63, Hotel pickup, $54.99
What the Map Shows That a List Cannot
Three patterns fall out of the geography, and each one changes a booking decision.
The town is a ten-minute radius
Nine stops sit within walking distance of a single bus terminal: the ropeway base station, Gokuraku-dori and its ogre statues, the Enma-do hall, the Sengen Park geyser, Jigokudani, Oyunuma, the Hiyoriyama vent, the natural foot bath and the terminal itself. That is an entire day on foot from wherever you sleep, and it is the reason staying in the onsen town beats day-tripping for anyone who wants more than the crater boardwalk. No car, no timetable, no transfers.
The tour industry lives an hour west
Four of the five largest bubbles are at Lake Toya: the lake itself, Showa Shinzan, the Usuzan Ropeway and the bear ranch at the lava dome's foot. Seven of the listings compared here stop at Lake Toya and four stop at the bear ranch, against two that reach Noboribetsu Bear Park. Read as a map rather than as marketing copy, the Sapporo day-trip market is a Lake Toya market with a Noboribetsu photo stop attached.
Nine stops have no tour at all
The free foot bath on the Oyunuma-gawa, the geyser in Sengen Park, the mechanical King Enma on Gokuraku-dori, the Hiyoriyama vent, Lake Kuttara's shore, the aquarium at Marine Park Nixe: no listing in the catalogue stops at any of them. That is not a gap in our research, it is what a ten-hour coach itinerary has room for. If those appeal, the day has to be self-guided, and the highway bus from Sapporo at about ¥2,500 (roughly $17) is how it starts.
Distances and Travel Times
Measured from the Noboribetsu Onsen bus terminal, which is where the highway coach from Sapporo sets you down.
From the bus terminal
Everything in the first block is walkable in ordinary shoes; everything below the line needs a vehicle.
| Stop | How you get there | Time from the terminal | Tours stopping here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ropeway base station | On foot | 2 minutes | 2 |
| Gokuraku-dori and the ogre statues | On foot | On the street itself | 1 |
| Enma-do shrine | On foot | 4 minutes | 0 |
| Sengen Park geyser | On foot | 5 minutes | 0 |
| Jigokudani (Hell Valley) | On foot, uphill | 15 minutes | 9 |
| Noboribetsu Bear Park | Gondola from the base station | 9 minutes total | 2 |
| Oyunuma boiling pond | Forest trail past Jigokudani | 35 minutes | 1 |
| Oyunuma-gawa foot bath | Trail below Oyunuma | 40 minutes | 0 |
| Hiyoriyama vent | Trail above Oyunuma | 40 minutes | 0 |
| Lake Kuttara | Seen from the bear park summit; shore needs a car | Viewpoint only | 2 |
| Date Jidaimura | Car or taxi | 10 minutes | 2 |
| JR Noboribetsu Station | Donan Bus, ¥450 | 15 to 20 minutes | 0 |
| Marine Park Nixe | Bus to the station, then 5 min on foot | 25 minutes | 0 |
| Cape Chikyu | Car | About 45 minutes | 3 |
| Showa Shinzan and the bear ranch | Car or coach | About 1 hour west | 4 |
| Lake Toya | Car or coach | About 1 h 15 west | 7 |
Map Questions
How accurate are the coordinates?
Every stop was geocoded against OpenStreetMap in August 2026 and checked by eye against the surrounding place names, with the ropeway stations confirmed through an Overpass query for aerialway stations in the valley. One candidate, the Noboribetsu primeval forest, could not be verified and was left off rather than pinned approximately.
Why are some bubbles so small?
Bubble size reflects how many of the listings compared here stop there. Nine stops carry no tour at all, which is genuine information about how coach itineraries are built rather than an omission.
Which stops can I reach without a car?
Nine, all within a short walk of the Noboribetsu Onsen bus terminal, plus the bear park by gondola and JR Noboribetsu Station by the ¥450 Donan Bus. Date Jidaimura, Cape Chikyu and everything at Lake Toya need a vehicle or a tour.
Which tours reach Noboribetsu Bear Park?
Two: the admission ticket, which is the park itself, and the private day trip from Sapporo, where the ropeway is still an extra fee paid on the day. No group coach climbs it.
What is the difference between the two bear facilities on the map?
Noboribetsu Bear Park sits on a 550 m summit above the onsen town, costs ¥3,200 with the ropeway included, and holds around seventy bears plus a museum and an Ainu village. Showa Shinzan Bear Ranch is an hour west at Lake Toya, costs about ¥1,000, and is the stop four of the compared coaches use.
How long does the walking route take end to end?
About ninety minutes to two hours from the bus terminal out to the foot bath and back, plus ninety minutes if you ride the gondola up to the park. The full walk is described here.