Mount Kurikoma is a favorite hiking and fall color destination, a day hike suitable for any reasonably fit hiker. The effort-to-payoff ratio is fantastic—after just a little over an hour’s climb along the Higashi Kurikoma route, the trail breaks the treeline and flattens out onto a plateau revealing a vast panorama of distant peaks piercing through a sea of clouds.

The second and final leg of the ascent to the 1,626-meter-high summit is steep but seduces with unbroken views of the mountainous panorama from an ever-higher perspective. Following the Sukawa Trail down off the summit takes hikers down the Iwate side of the mountain. The unbroken panoramas persist until the trail descends below the treeline, into volcanic terrain and, in autumn, a blaze of fall foliage. The trail ends at Sukawa Onsen (須川温泉).

The route described here is a through-hike ascending from Iwakagamidaira (いわかがみ平) via the Higashi Kurikoma (東栗駒) Trail, then descending into Sukawa Onsen via the Sukawa (須川) Trail. That route is convenient during fall color season, the only time of year the bus to Iwakagamidaira is in operation. The bus running between Sukawa Onsen and Ichinoseki Station operates the entire green season (late April through early November), so spring and summer hikers wishing to use public transportation can opt for a a loop hike starting from and finishing at Sukawa Onsen. Those with a car can do a loop hike on the Miyagi side of the mountain, as a day-trip or with an overnight stay at the Yubama Onsen Miura Ryokan hot springs inn.