Nippara Limestone Caves 日原鍾乳洞

Nippara Cave This is the last part of a weekend trip from autumn leaves and hiking at Mount Mitake 御岳山 to cycling in Okutama 奥多摩.

Bus stop#1 for the cave is right out Okutama Station, with only a bus an hour from 6:27 am to 6:30 pm on weekends (7:27, 8:35, 9:35, 11:00, 12:50, 2:15, 3:45, 4:50). On the weekends, the bus doesn't go all the way to the cave so you need to get off at the last stop 東日原 then walk another 30 minutes along the very scenic road with drink vending machines here and there. The windy uphill bus ride is 25 minutes, 460 yen each way-can use SUICA). The weekday schedule is different but also just one bus an hour - 500 yen to the bus stop near the cave then a 10-minute walk to the cave. Although you can rent bikes and cycle here, the road is quite steep and narrow so I imagine it would be pretty challenging to do so for 12 km. The admission to the cave is 700 yen and it took us about 30 minutes to walk through. It's certainly not the most amazing cave but it's interesting enough if you're in the area anyway. There's a small shop selling food and some hiking trails nearby. The returning bus is also quite infrequent.

walk from the bus stop to the cave