The way points of this bicycle route:
Departure time: need to coordinate for Showa Park opening. Depart Shinagawa about 7:15 estimate, to get to park by just past 9:30 opening.
Reach the Nekawa bridge which connects back to Tama Gawa river bank. Just less than 1 km from leaving the Tama River bank to the Nekawa bridge. A small bridge, say 15 meters length. Nekawa bridge spans a small creek; do not continue on to Tama River. Take the cobblestone path along the creek to the right. There are toilets and drinking water ahead along this creek.
The creek merges into the Zanbori Kawa river. Follow the path along the Zanbori Kawa river bank upstream. At Fujimicho, a park with a small steep hill to the right marks the point of departure from the Zanbori Kawa. Go up the hill, left around the park. Follow the map another kilometer to the South cycling entrance to Showa Kinen Park.
Park opens 9:30 AM. Need to time departure accordingly. go to TamaGawa JoSui Guchi. Cool idea for long route in park: circle1, circle2, circle3, circle4, Sunagawa point, back to circle3, back to circle2, on to circle4, and out to TamaGawaJoSui Guchi.
Stay on the south side of Tamagawa Josui (creek) going East until the train station (called Tamagawa-Josui eki). From this station, continue going East on Tamagawa Josui creek, but stay on the north side of the creek. Important because the creek forks and the fork goes unnoticed, you go off track if you stay on the south.
Follow Tamagawa Josui creek (north fork) to Higashi Yamato Eki station. From there, a series of back roads leads through 向原6, past Haming Hall, past some orchards, through a mansion parking lot, through 向原3, past some old style residences, and through an alley way to a busy street. Use caution before crossing. The Konaka ( コナカ ) store is across the street.
Go to the Konaka side of the street, and continue heading north past the fields and homes. Go as much straight ahead north as possible.
Soon, your street will be intersected by a long pedestrian parkway. Good enough for cycling. Take this parkway to the right. It goes maybe 3 or 4 blocks, nice riding through backyards. You will reach an intersection with a yellow bench (wooden) on the left side and some old blue spray paint spots on the low wall behind it. That is the signal to exit this parkway.
Exit left perpendicular and go straight forward. You come to another busy road called Shinjuku- Ome 新宿青梅. The intersection should be called 第四小前. You are already headed in the right direction.
This is the Karabori-Kawa. To start, stay on the Saitama (north/left) side of this river going east (downstream).
When we must cross the busy road because the river flows beneath it, it is a good time to stay on the Tokyo (right) side of the river. Just near this busy crossing, to the left on the busy road, is a cycling shop: Asahi Cycle Sports. If you need anything, go here.
As you proceed, a bridge becomes visible rising over both the river and the cycling path along the river bank. To pass this spot beneath the bridge, it is necessary to get back on the Saitama (left) side of the river in advance. You can then ride down and up on the other side.
Some point not long after this, it's good to return to the Tokyo (right) side of the river. At the 75 km point, a Korean restaurant becomes visible on the left side of the river. They have beer. Pretty good place.
A little further on, on the Tokyo (right) side, a side street to the right opens up with 2 Buddhist statues (guardian warriors) a few dozen meters away. Pretty cool (see photo).
Confluence of Karabori and Yanase Rivers. At this point, we reach a cross street which should be crossed with caution. A 7-11 is here to the right. We first cross to the Saitama side of the river (left side heading downstream or east). There, we ride on.
After a short distance, maybe 500 meters, a nice footbridge appears. The location is Higashi-Tokorozawa-Wada 1. We cross back to Tokyo side and continue. This is crossing 2.
Stay on Yanase gawa bank cycling course and a park will appear on the left. In summer, BBQ, fishing, and kids playing in the river are visible. If you get hungry, there are some yatai selling food at the park on the Saitama side. The next bridge has a ramp - go under the bridge and catch the ramp to ride up to the street level, still on Tokyo side.
After 400 meters, still on street level on the Tokyo side, we reach "Daita-Danchi" 台田団地 A dirt road is all that is visible ahead. But take the dirt road. It descends slightly and runs in a wooded park along the river, still parallel to the auto road. After 50 meters, it turns into a paved cycling course for the next 1000 meters. Historic Hidden Cycling Course - don't miss the giant Cycling sign (left side)!
Emerge from the cycling course and come to an intersection with a bridge. To the right, a store called "Yamazaki" is visible. Good place to stock up on supplies. Watch the traffic. The route from here crosses the Yanase-gawa. This is crossing 3, to the Saitama side.
Enter the park to the right. Find the park trail leading back to the river bank. Ride East inside the park along the river bank, a shady road. Some bumps - watch your wheels. Distance about 1 km.
Reaching the end of the park, we emerge onto streets and quickly see a low overhead dirt road under a highway. The street goes uphill to the left away from the river, but we go ahead under the highway. From there, wind gradually left and forward and uphill.
A busy street is reached, about 300m from the park. Take this street to the right, and soon we cross a river, a tributary to the Yanase-gawa.
After crossing, stay on this street about 500 meters, getting to the right side. Go through the first traffic light.
A small road to the right is a good choice. A sign down the road says "Yasuda". This road leads to a little-used auto road along the Yanase-gawa river bank.
It leads past the J-Girl hotel building. Stay near the Yanase-gawa until the next bridge, about 1 km or so.
This big bridge takes a highway over the Yanase-gawa. For us, a nice bicycle tunnel takes us under the highway, still on Saitama-side of the river. After crossing under the highway, stay on the pavement, not the dirt road. Pavement goes a few hundred meters toward Cineplex, where we take the side road back to the river bank.
We ride up the ramp to the riverbank road, and cross the footbridge over Yanase-gawa. This is crossing 4, back to Tokyo side. On Tokyo side, heading in our direction (east), is a nice Cycling Road for 1000 meters. The next stretch is 200 m of dirt road, taking us to the next bridge.
Take the bridge back to the Saitama side of Yanase-gawa. This is crossing 5.
Just here at this intersection, on the other side of the street, is another bike shop: Asahi Cycle Sports. This is Route 254. Stay on 254 -- right side recommended -- until it crosses beneath railroad tracks.
After these tracks, take the next small alley / street to the right, just next to tracks. We will be kind of out of contact with the river for a stretch.
The small street ran parallel to the tracks for one block. Good place to fill water bottles at the corner of this block. Then, turn left away from the tracks. Go straight.
Cross the auto street straight ahead onto a rice paddy path, no cars allowed. This path goes straight for more than 1000 meters. To the right, beyond the paddies, is Yanase-gawa. Stay straight, but know that the River is to the right.
Rice paddy path leads to a school. Keep going, through one more paddy, jog right for 70 meters to an auto road with traffic. This is Shiki city.
As soon as you pass 7-11 on the right side, take the next road to the left side. This road crosses a creek after 75 meters.
Welcome to Bikely, take a step by step tour of this path:
Press Start Tour - then use the navigation buttons below to move along the path.
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Tagged with: Low traffic
