Hokkaido
北海道On ridehokkaido.com129 places
Hokkaido has the driest, deepest snow in Japan, and Ride Hokkaido covers every resort, touring zone, onsen and town on the island. Riding Japan sends you there for the Hokkaido part of a trip and picks you up again in Tokyo.
Sister guide
Ride Hokkaido covers Hokkaido
Every resort, run, backcountry zone, onsen and town in Hokkaido, with 3D maps and an AI trip planner that builds your powder trip day by day.
Resorts 38 · Resort groups 2 · Backcountry 25 · Towns 28 · Onsen 36
Open ridehokkaido.comResortsTownsOnsenBackcountryEach place opens on ridehokkaido.com
On ridehokkaido.com
Resorts
Daisetsuzan Asahidake Ropeway
Resort · Furano, Asahikawa & Daisetsuzan
A hundred-person tram lifts you to 1,600 m on the flank of Hokkaido's highest volcano, and the gladed bowls on either side of the line hold some of the coldest powder on the island.
On ridehokkaido.com
On ridehokkaido.com
Resort groups
On ridehokkaido.com
Backcountry
Furano Resort Access Points (Furano Nishi-dake)
Backcountry zone · Furano, Asahikawa & Daisetsuzan
Furano's five patrol-designated exits lead onto the forested flanks of Furano Nishi-dake, and every outing needs its own climbing-plan form handed to patrol.
On ridehokkaido.com
On ridehokkaido.com
Towns
On ridehokkaido.com
Onsen
The northwest monsoon crosses the Sea of Japan and drops its snow on Hokkaido first, so Niseko, Kiroro and the Furano valley get light powder from late December into March. Most riders fly into New Chitose and take a bus or a car to the mountains, which makes Hokkaido its own leg of a Japan trip with a flight at each end.
Ride Hokkaido is our sister guide. It maps every run from open data, writes up the gates at Niseko and the touring around Furano and Asahidake, and plans the island day by day. The cards below open its pages directly.
A trip that pairs Hokkaido with Honshu usually flies Sapporo to Tokyo in about ninety minutes, then takes the Shinkansen to Nagano or Niigata. Hakuba against Niseko and Tohoku against Hokkaido are questions our guides answer side by side, with every Hokkaido figure taken from Ride Hokkaido's own pages.
Quick answers about Hokkaidoよくある質問
Does Riding Japan cover Hokkaido?
Riding Japan covers Hokkaido through its sister guide. Ride Hokkaido at ridehokkaido.com writes up every resort, backcountry zone, onsen and town on the island, and every Hokkaido card here opens its page.
How do you get from Hokkaido to Hakuba?
Most riders fly from New Chitose to Haneda or Narita, then take the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Nagano and a bus to Hakuba. Plan a full day for the move.
Which guide covers Hokkaido?
Ride Hokkaido covers Hokkaido at https://ridehokkaido.com/. Its guide lists 129 places there, and each one on this page opens its page on ridehokkaido.com.
In the journal and guides
Read more about Hokkaido特集
Guide · 6 min read
How do you cycle Japan end to end, from Cape Soya to Cape Sata?
Japan's National Cycle Routes stop well short of joining the northern and southern capes, so riders link them with ordinary roads. Ride Hokkaido covers the island, this guide picks you up at Aomori, and the season decides the direction.
Practical guide · 8 min read
Should you ski Hakuba or Niseko?
Hakuba suits riders who want big alpine vertical and ten resorts on one ticket, a train ride from Tokyo. Niseko suits riders who want four linked resorts, lift-served gates under one set of rules and lights on every evening.
Practical guide · 6 min read
What does JaPow mean?
JaPow is skier slang for Japan's powder snow, a blend of Japan and pow. The snow comes from cold northwesterly winds that cross the Sea of Japan and unload on the mountains facing it, with January the snowiest month at every JMA station we keep near a ski area.