Spring! And so we are busy checking which part of our town has fully-bloomed cherry blossoms for spring party. Er, well, having a merrymaking with friends beneath a cherry tree in a packed park, like Ueno Park 上野公園, is one kind of fun. Though, you may prefer a calm cup of tea from your thermo and cherry blossoms. Finding a place for that could be a tall order, especially in metropolitan Tokyo area. Then, recently, I had a sort of sales pitch from people who work for Miho Dam 三保ダム of Lake Tanzawa 丹沢湖. “You see, during cherry-blossoms’ season, the scenery in our place is so gorgeous, but very few would come for picnic. Sometimes, the entire place could be a private garden for just one small family to enjoy cherry blossoms … We don’t know why people fail to check our place. *sigh*” OK, so, in this post, I tell you how to go there for your private cherry-blossoms’ festivity. As Miho Dam is in a very deep mountains of Tanzawa 丹沢, the time their trees are in full-bloom is roughly 2 weeks later than in downtown Tokyo. The expected best days to go there are around the weekend of the next week. We still have time to plan!
Actually, the place for cherry blossoms in Miho Dam is not at the dam. It is in a park spreading in the bottom of the dam, called Dam Hiroba Park ダム広場. Miho is a rockfill dam so that what dams up the stream, in this case Kawachi River 河内川, is a man-made gigantic mound. (The structural plan of the dam can be checked here.) The foot of the “hill” which is the other side of Lake Tanzawa is Dam Hiroba Park. I guess a reason why not many people visit the place is the structure of the dam. The altitude of crown of the levee is ASL 325m. Dan Hiroba Park is at ASL 245m. 325-245=80m for difference of elevation. Sure, the wall of Miho Dam appears gentler compared with concrete dams. But when we look down to the direction of the Park, it’s like Karasawa Cirque 涸沢カール we observe from Mt. Hotaka Cottage 穂高岳山荘 (er… yeah, that’s an exaggeration). The slope of the dam rapidly goes down to the bottom, which gives intimidating impression for visitors. Of course, it is not allowed to drive down the slope by car, bike, motorbike …anything. The rise must be treated with care in order to avoid collapse, you know. But the road zig-zagging over the slope of the dam is perfectly paved, and the steps are well-manicured. Walking there is a good way to “experience” physically the scale of this man-made structure in mountainous forests. And, the Park at the base is really pleasant spot to have your lunch, I tell you.
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| Looking
down Dam Hiroba Park from the top of the Miho Dam. |
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| The
slope of Miho Dam … I realized in the end it was an artificial construction. |
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| We can also use steps to go down/up. |
To visit Dam Hiroba Park, the standard way would be going to “Miho Dam,” which is the name of the crown of the dam. By car, please set your navigation system to “Miho Dam.” At the entrance of the crest of the dam, there is really an ample parking space. Or you can take a commuter bus of about an hour ride from Odakyu Shin-Matsuda Station 小田急新松田駅 to Tanzawako Bus Stop 丹沢湖. (Time table is here.) The bus stop is in front of the car lot. From the bus stop, there is a wide “promenade” that is the crown of the dam. On your right is man-made Lake Tanzawa, and to the left is that huge slope of artificial hill going down to the Dam Hiroba Park. From the boardwalk, please just walk down and we reach to the Park. Actually, we can go to the Dam Hiroba Park directly by car, making a left to “Hidamarinosato Auto Camping Ground ひだまりの里オートキャンプ場” via Prefectural Road #76 to Lake Tanzawa. After turning, we first observe the Camping Ground along Kawachi River on the left. Simply proceed further to the Park. The parking lots are large and often vacant (closed on Wednesdays). By bus, please get off the bus at Kaminawa Bus Stop 神縄, and go to the direction of Camping Groud as for cars. I think this route might be more interesting to see the detail of the dam. As we advance, the entire body of the dam comes near to us, and we view its 5 flood ways and the mouths of outlets from the bed of the Lake. It’s the route to look a huge dam from the bottom, which is thrilling in itself.
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| Tanzawako Bus Stop |
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| To the top of the Dam from car park. |
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| Winter
of 2018-19 did not provide much rain for Lake Tanzawa. The peninsula in this photo is normally an island … drought this summer? |
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| The well-paved road on the slope of Miho Dam |
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| Kaminawa Bus Stop |
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| Either by car or bus, please turn left here. |
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| The sign for Camping Ground. Adelante, por favor. |
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| The
Dam is approaching to us. Could you figure out a tunnel in the left of this photo? It’s a mouth of the left outlet of the dam. It’s used to control the tonnage of water discharge. |
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| The gate for parking lots on one Wednesday. “Closed.” |
Dam Hiroba Park is a prefectural park of Kanagawa spreading over the foot of Miho Dam. It has wide roads for pedestrians to stroll. The flowering trees are chosen for this place which is in the end man-made. The center of the Park is a large lawn yard where we can bring our blanket and relax in a fine day. The point near Kawachi River, or aqueduct from the dam, there is a miniature of Miho Dam and Lake Tanzawa, a diorama model made of pond and garden bushes. In the east of the Park, they have a hydroelectric power plant using regular outlets from the bottom of the dam. The electricity generated here is sold to TEPCO, and becomes a part of power distributed in Kanagawa Prefecture. Looking north, we see an enormous synthetic hill of Miho Dam. And yet, the rock slope covered by grasses does not give us imposing feeling of concrete dam. Hmmmmm. Yeah, this is a good place to have a peaceful party for admiring cherry blossoms with your family ... Oh, by the way, near the parking space, there is a knoll of wood chips that is created from the debris accumulated at the flood ways of the dam. You can take it as much as you like. Locals come here in pick-up and use it for their garden. They are also applied liberally to maintain the roads in Dam Hiroba Park soft and pleasant. Why is it free? Becaaaaause, selling it from this deep mountain costs more than the profit ... a familiar story of Japanese forests …
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| Dam
Hiroba Park of Miho Dam, early March. That was the time for plum flowers … |
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| The place also has gazebos and toilets. |
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| Power plant |
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| The water
from the dam to the plant generates electricity |
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| Let’s have a nap here … |
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| In the
park they display some mechanical parts of power generator used before. It is a water wheel. |
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| It’s a georama of Lake Tanzawa with … |
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| mini flood ways. |
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| They will be in full bloom within 2 weeks from now … |
Next week, I tell you about Miho Dam itself, and Miyagawse Dam 宮ケ瀬ダム. They are a kind of contrasting dams, but forming a tag team for tap water in Kanagawa Prefecture. Meanwhile, enjoy your cherry blossom parties in Japan!
Dam
Management Office for Sakawa River System / Miho Dam Management Office
神奈川県企業庁酒匂水系ダム管理事務所・三保ダム管理事務所
734 Kamioda, Yamakita Town,
Ashigara-kami-gun, 258-0203
〒258-0203 足柄上郡山北町神尾田734
Phone: 0465-78-3711,
FAX: 0465-78-3371
http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/cnt/f8018/
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