About Bandokoro Waterfall (Bandokoro Otaki [番所大滝])
The Bandokoro Waterfall (Bandokoro Otaki [番所大滝]; Bandokoro Great Falls or just Bandokoro Falls) was one of three notable waterfalls in the Norikura Kogen (Norikura Highlands) of the Japan Alps between Matsumoto and Takayama. Julie and I remembered our visit here as one of our more adventurous public transport escapades as a combination of the language barrier, infrequent bus options, and costliness of the local lines turned an expected day of visiting the many waterfalls here into a half-day of visiting just this one waterfall. Seven years later when I visited this area with my parents, I learned my lesson and self-drove this part of Japan. So the following description will reflect this more sensible perspective as self-driving in the Japan Alps area was quite manageable and in our minds not significantly more expensive than trying to make it work by mass transit (not to mention the added flexibility of not being slaved to someone else’s timetable).
Of course lost in the logistics of getting to this waterfall was that this was a really impressive waterfall as it was some 40m in height and 11m in width that tumbled in a trapezoidal shape. In our first visit during May of 2009, the Koonogawa River (小大野川) was in high flow so the waterfall threw up a lot of mist right up at the lookout platform you see pictured at the top of this page. When we came back in October of 2016, the river was in less flow but the waterfall itself still retained its pleasing shape. There was even some hints of koyo (Autumn colors) as the typically cool weather of the Norikura Highlands was more conducive to the changing of the leaves before the rest of the country at the lower elevations (we were probably 2-3 weeks early for the rest of the country to experience the koyo).
The hike to the Bandokoro Waterfall was pretty straightforward from the parking area (there was a restroom as well as bus stop by the main road near this car park; see directions below). On the far side of the parking area, we followed a fence that gently sloped to our right (past a trail that steeply descended steps to our left) then led down a more gentler series of steps and switchbacks. On our latest visit, that stair-stepped path on our left went further upstream of the Bandokoro Falls, but it was closed due to rock falls and landslides. I recalled when Julie and I last did that other trail to the left, it followed the Koonogawa in a pleasant riverside trail passing by a pair of other small but fairly picturesque waterfalls – Bandokoro Little Falls (番所小滝) and Chiyomi Falls (千間淵滝). It would eventually bring us back to the main road (Road 84) further to the west of the Bandokoro Falls car park.
Anyways, continuing to the right on the main waterfall trail, it continued to descend several steps and switchbacks with railings to hold onto for balance. After roughly 5-10 minutes of engaging in this descent (knowing full well that we had to get all this elevation loss back to return to the car park), we eventually reached another trail junction right before the lookout shelter for the Bandokoro Falls. Given the steep terrain of this gorge, this lookout was the only place to properly experience the falls. And as mentioned earlier, when the Koonogawa was in high flow, it would be hard to get a clean look at the falls given the spray that would blast the side facing the waterfall itself. Despite the closures of the other trails in the immediate area during our latest visit, it seemed like Autumn was a more pleasant experience here. In addition to the koyo, we were even able to notice some hints of basalt formations providing us clues to the waterfall’s geologic past as well as helping us better understand why the falls existed here in the first place as the hard rock layer was surely supplied by the lava that once flowed through here.
Speaking of trail closures, the continuation of the trail at the junction by the lookout shelter led further downstream towards a dam facility. When Julie and I last did that trail prior to its closure, we didn’t go past the small dam so we can’t say anything more about where else that trail went. Anyways, when all was said and done, our out-and-back excursion to the lookout of the Bandokoro Falls from the car park only took us 35 minutes, and that included the time spent taking pictures and just enjoying the scenery at the falls.
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