Top 10 Nature & Wildlife Tours in Nagano Prefecture, Chubu

We are providing some nature programs such as, Wood craft, Indoor climbing, Eco-tour, Star Gazing program, and Kids program. We are located in Karuizawa Prince Hotel Area, which means near from Karuizawa JR Station. If you'd like to go shopping, there is Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza next to our building. So you can use our program like nursery for shopping.

Snow Monkey Resorts takes you on experiences in the Northern Nagano region. Our tours show you the most beloved attractions and the best hidden secrets in this area. Tours include visits to the Snow Monkey Park, the Zenko-ji Temple, snow fun in the Shiga Kogen, Japanese cherry blossoms, countryside cycling, and mountain experiences. Besides group tours, we have customized private tours as well.

North Nagano Outdoor Sports organizes back country tour which is held at Mt. Madarao. The purpose of our organization is to introduce the wonderful powder snow and provide more adventure to our guests. Madarao mountain resort is famous in powder snow, and provides tree courses that will not let you bore. Our backcountry tour will take you to even more free and adventurous tree run courses! You might imagine the hard hiking up in back country tour, but our tour take the lift and can easily reach to the marvelous view point in 20-30 minutes. Our tour is assembled based on our guests, so that each and everyone could enjoy our place. We can also assemble a tour that is enjoyable for beginners.

We are guides located at the entrance of the mountain resort Kamikochi at the elevation of 1500 meters. We specialize in trekking/walking areas of Kamikochi with little difference in elevation, such as Taisho Pond, Myojin, and Tokusawa. We do not offer “mountain climbing guide courses”. We want our customers to feel love not just towards the beautiful flowers but also towards the moss, little creatures, flower seeds, and the fallen leaves of Kamikochi. We aim to offer guide courses for everyone to like Kamikochi more. We, the National park guides, are the one and only private enterprise stationed at Kamikochi. The view of the Hotaka mountain range and the Azusa River from the Kappa Bridge is one of the most famous and popular breathtaking sceneries of Japan. But moreover, you can enjoy the variety of fascinations of each season, such as the colorful flowers, the twitter of birds, the sky color that changes every second, the fresh green, and the yellow leaves.

EXPERIENCE THE BEST OF JAPAN - THE THRILL OF DEEP POWDER, THE BEAUTY OF AN UNIQUE CULTURE, AND THE FUN OF A WELL OILED GUIDED TOUR. Enjoy some of the most incredible snow on planet earth, stay in a truly authentic Japanese ski village, visit mom and pop restaurants and mix with the locals, be entertained by Geisha, Taiko Drum, Shimansen Guitar, Lion Dance and Karate performances, visit the world famous Snow Monkeys, view the amazing tree snow monsters at night, walk through ancient castles, temples and shrines and relax in natural hot pool onsens. Where other companies may talk up the cultural aspects of Japan and charge extra for these, we include them in our tours so you get a truly authentic Japanese ski experience. And best of all you get to share this all with a group of like minded ski and snowboard enthusiasts, all hosted by our instructor/guides who are just plain passionate about what they do for you. And don’t forget our hidden gems that will amazing you along the way.

We are organizing cycling tour and snowshoeing tour. A half-day cycling tour that takes you along a path through the forest in the beautiful Japan Alps. This half-day adventure brings you Japan’s beliefs and historical explanations about the mountains. You will even visit places tied to legend. A snowshoe tour to Kamikochi’s Taisho Pond and Tashiro Pond. The trek to the two ponds provides ample entertainment during winter in Kamikochi. Feel the presence of the mountain gods in Kamikochi, a land enveloped in stillness!! A half-day snowshoe tour in Norikura Highlands. Snowshoe hiking through a natural landscape with frozen waterfalls and ponds, a primeval forest, and peaks and valleys in Norikura Highlands. A snowshoe tour of Norikura Highlands’ frozen Zengoro Falls at night. This is an original Guesthouse Raicho tour. Don your snowshoes and adventure out into the night’s winter forest. The tour guide will provide light, illuminating the beautiful frozen waterfall at night.

Shinano Discovery is located in north Nagano area, one of the most snowy area in Japan. We offer special tours such as satoyama cycling, hiking, Togakushi pilgrimage walking and snowshoeing tour. The guide is a national licensed translator as well as a licensed hiking guide. We will take you to the special places where never on any guidebooks! Let ’s explore the hidden gem of Japan together!

Picchio, established in 1992, offers fine eco-tours and nature tours such as Bird watching tour, Flying squirrel watching tour and other animal watching tours. We currently have 12 professional guides who specialize in wild animals and birds. More than 39,000 participants joined our tour in 2012. We also conserves wild animals such as the Asian Black Bear since 1998.

Shin’etsu-Shizenkyo Activity Center(SAC) offers information and activities to enjoy through the year around Iiyama city. - Arrange for various activity tours such as cycling, snowshoeing and backcountry. - For rent: road bike, city bike, trekking shoes, rain wear, snowshoe and more. - For sale: apparel, outdoor goods, maps for Shin-etsu Trail, books and other materials.

Spring, summer and autumn, you can enjoy a daily guided tour throughout the year. The “60-minute Nature Guide”, a guide full of live information, will guide you around the attractions of Kappabashi four times a day in 60 minutes. In addition, the “Early Morning Guide Walk” where birds sing and the power spots “Myojinike Nature Trail” and “Night Walk” surrounded by the primeval forest are also available depending on the season. The professional guides will explain the natural attractions such as plants, wild birds, mountains and history of each course.