A fam trip was held at Kurihara city in Miyagi prefecture to create trail routes around Mt. Kurikoma.
Getting to Kurikoma city from Tokyo is very convenient. It takes about 2 hours to get to Kurikoma Kogen station by Tohoku Shinkansen.
I took the bullet train at 7:54am at Tokyo station and arrived at Kurikoma kogen station at 9:57am.
We moved to a visitor center and learned about the history of Mt. Kurikoma and the reason why this area became a geopark. ( 3 languages are available )
Kurihara city is creating trail routes for visitors and they try to make them more attractive so that this area will be able to offer suitable experiences to any types of travelers.
Kurihara city is located in Miyagi prefecture which is well-known as a rice farming.
The side road of the rice farm is very peaceful and you can forget your daily lives while walking.
White-fronted geese live in this area half of the years.
They eat rough rice on the rice farm in day time and go back to a marsh.
The marsh in this area is called ” Izu Numa” and is White-fronted geese come back to sleep in the sunset time.
Swans also live in this area and you can feed them rice snacks. It is worth to see this beautiful scenery if you have an opportunity to visit Miyagi.
Lake Izunuma is marsh which is located in Kurihara city. About 10 thousand of white-fronted geese live in the wetlands protected under the Ramsar Convention. They fly off at sunrise to feed in rice fields during the day. If you have an opportunity to stay one night in winter season, please visit Lake Izunuma in the early morning. We arrived at the lake side before the sunrise ( around at 6am ) and waited for them flying.
A great congregation of birds flew over at 6:30am and it was spectacular.
If you had a chance to stay in Kurihara city, Miyagi prefecture in winter season, please wake up early and visit lake Izunuma!