While in Osaka, I made a quick daytrip out to the neighbouring prefecture of Hyogo to climb Mt Rokko (六甲山, rokko-zan). I was with my family so we opted for the shortest possible hiking course to the summit, which is a 2 hour route starting and ending at Arima Onsen.
Mt Rokko is quite a well-known mountain for those living in Osaka and Hyogo. From looking at YAMAP, I think most hikers go for a longer course than the one we took, so although I was expecting large crowds, the trail felt pretty empty compared to how crowded mountains can get in Tokyo.
After arriving at the Arima Onsen train station, we took a 20 minute walk up to the Arima Rokko Ropeway. The ropeway takes you most of the way up the mountain, so the actual elevation gain you take on this course is only 300m.
There is a road that goes to near the peak of Mt Rokko, and the trail cuts across it a number of times, and there are short stretches where you walk along it as well. I think I can understand why this trail is not that popular. You do get some great views of the surrounding cities and ocean, though!
After a quick hour hike, we were at the peak. Although it’s mid-September and technically autumn in Japan, it was still reaching highs of 30°C so I was sweating.
Since we took the shortest possible course, we took the same route back down. If you wanted to take a longer trail, you can start your hike on the other side of the mountain at Ashiyagawa station, and then descend to Arima Onsen.
Once we got off the mountain, we stopped by an onsen (we had to, considering we were in a town called Arima Onsen). After that, I stumbled upon the cutest cafe I have seen in my life. It had three resident mame shibas who were hanging out inside the cafe.
In true Shiba-style, they were very cute to look at but didn’t want to be touched. The food was actually really good as well. If you’re a dog-lover like me, I absolutely recommend checking it out!
To be honest I had only planned to hike Mt Odaigahara and Mt Omine on this trip so Mt Rokko was a nice bonus to cap things off. I’d love to come back and properly experience this mountain, probably when it’s not as hot too.
Hiking course details
| Date climbed | Length | Course time |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-09-14 | 5.2km | 2h (the expected time for an average hiker without breaks) |
This is the shortest possible course to reach the peak of Mt Rokko, using the Rokko Arima Ropeway. I don’t think I’d recommend it as a proper hiking course, due to how close to the road it is. Instead, I recommend taking the 11km course from Ashiyagawa station, which ends at Arima Onsen.
Public transportation access with example schedule
| Time | Location | Transport | Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Osaka station (大阪駅) | JR Train | 420 | |
| 08:22 | Sannomiya station (三ノ宮駅) | |||
| 08:39 | Sannomiya station | Subway | 690 | |
| 09:08 | Arima Onsen station (有馬温泉駅) |
The access to Arima Onsen station is a little bit confusing, since you have to transfer from the JR line to the Seishin-Yamate subway. Once on the subway, there’s another two transfers you have to make to adjacent platforms at Tanigami and Arimaguchi stations. I recommend finding the route on Google Maps or other transport app.
Once you reach Arima Onsen station, it’s a 20 or so minute walk to the ropeway. You can take the ropeway up and down for the view, but if you want to save some yen, there is also a bus that takes you up to the top of the ropeway station for a fraction of the price.
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