Onuma Park

What?
Onuma Quasi National Park (大沼公園) is a large area of nature which includes forests, lakes and mountains. The most known, most visited and most popular area is the one between the Onuma and Konuma lakes. From practically anywhere around the lake shores you have a magnificent view on Mount Komagatake when the weather is clear.
Where?
Located in southern Hokkaido, Onuma Park is very easy to access. The most common thing to do is to take the train from Hakodate Station (函館駅); both limited express trains as local trains stop at JR Onuma Koen Station (大沼公園駅). This means the park is also directly connected with Sapporo.
URL
Japan Guide Outline Hakodate Tourism

After a few days of intense working and travelling I needed a quiet day. But then again, when you are in Hokkaido on one of your few days off, it feels like a waste to stay in your hotel. So I decided to take short trip to Onuma Park and stay deliberately away from the mountains so I wouldn’t start climbing them, instead doing the walking courses in between and around the lakes.

I departed very early in the morning, which is the best choice if you want to avoid the big crowds. Onuma Park is conveniently easy to access, but that also means hordes of other tourists have that exact same convenience.
The positive thing about arriving early was that aside me, there were only a few nature lovers at the grounds, most of them admiring silently the surroundings. Therefor it was a real pleasure walking all the courses as the only thing you could hear were birds and the gentle splashing of the water. The courses are really easy and at a normal pace you can do them all in an hour and a half.
The negative thing about arriving early is that Mount Komagatake was still shrouded in mist, so the view was not optimal.

On one of the walking paths.

Mount Komagatake still shrouded in mist.

After an hour and a half walking though the Mountain woke up and showed itself, lending to absolutely magnificent views. Unfortunately it was also at that moment boats started roaring and buses of tourists started flocking onto the walking paths. So I just hopped on for a boat ride – nothing special - and continued my way back to the station.

As the next train would only be departing in a hour or so I started following my nose which detected a strong smell of malt. It just so happens that a short walk from both the station as the lakes there is a craft brewery (Onuma Beer). Their fairly modern building was unfortunately bereft of visitors, but I didn’t regret popping in and having a taste of their beers. I found them to be well balanced beers in a kind of Belgian tradition, although none of the brands were based on Belgian beer styles. As I like my beers well balanced and not extreme, this was a nice finish.