Nagano Prefecture: Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park | Yamanouchi

The Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park offers a close encounter with the Japanese Macaques, known as Snow Monkeys. The park is located in the forests of the Jigokudani valley in Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Though these are wild monkeys, they seem to be at peace even if the place is surrounded by humans.

Here's a short video clip of our Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park Tripventure.

The approach we had to reach the snow monkey park is by taking a Kanbayashi Onsen bus from Nagano Station then stopped at Kanbayashi Onsen bus stop. There is a trail going to the snow monkey park with an approximate distance of 2 KM (more or less) from the entrance going to the park, which may take around 40 minutes of walk.  

It was a nice walk through the woods surrounded by tall trees that cover the sun at noon. 
As you reach the park, there is a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) called Korakukan in the Jigokudani valley. 

Entrance to the Snow Monkey Park.

Jigokudani means 'hell valley' which is a common name for Japanese valleys with volcanic activity. 
There is a man-made pool (natural hot spring) inside the park where most of the snow monkeys gather especially during the winter season. Hot spring bathing makes the snow monkeys unique compared to other wild monkeys.

The snow monkeys come to the park throughout the year, so there will never be a regretful time to visit the place. If you would like to see a large number of monkeys in the man-made pool, I recommend visiting the place during the winter season. They love to soak in the cold and heavy winter snow.

My personal close encounter with the snow monkeys. Where is Wukong 'The Monkey King'?

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