Tokyo Trail Running Routes

These are some routes I’ve done or am planning on doing in the Tokyo area.

奥多摩: 高尾→陣馬

This has been my favorite trail route so far. I’ve done it a few times and it’s still fun.

I like to avoid the long climb from 高尾山口 station so I take the cable car or chair lift up most of the way. From the cable car station it’s a pretty straight shot all the way to 陣馬山 and then down to the bus stop. 

奥多摩: 奥多摩むかし道

This is pretty easy 9km trail that’s mostly paved mountain road. A detailed map of this trail is available from the Okutama tourist office and the trail head near the station is pretty clearly marked. It starts out with a short, steep climb but levels off quickly and is mostly pretty flat. There’s a moderate 200m climb/descent at the end of the route. The trail ends a a bus stop where you can get a bus back to Okutama station.

When I ran this trail I felt pretty good at the bus stop so I ran back rather than waiting for a bus. The trail portions were well maintained and there were no cars on the paved section. I didn’t see any other runners on the day I ran so either trail runners don’t run much during the winter or this is not a popular route. The scenery wasn’t great but the long flat sections were pretty relax.

This is probably a good beginner route because there are no crazy climbs or descents and most of the route is paved road. I think this trail can be used to get you to other trails that go further out the the mountains past Okutama, but I haven’t done anything further west than the end of this trail yet.

There’s a nice onsen near the station called もえぎの湯. They’ve got a 100円 foot bath and their regular bath is also pretty reasonable. I stopped by before heading back home.

I used the coin lockers at Okutama station to store my stuff while out on the trail.

青梅: 長山公園→雷電山→軍畑駅

Sorry about the spotty GPS data in the link above. I was having some trouble keeping my phone on during this run. The route is around 10k, and provided you don’t make any wrong turns, like I did, is pretty easy to run.

The trail head is a nice distance from Ome station so you can get a decent warm-up on your way. The trail starts out nice and wide with a moderate climb. Conditions on the day I ran were good and there were a number of other runners on the trail. Scenically it’s not great but there are a vew good views of nearby valleys and Ome City.

The trail is generally easy to follow. I managed to make a wrong turn at a T junction at around the halfway point, though. I was looking for signs for 雷電山 but the destination marked was 高水三山 or something. Anyway, there’s a distinctive T junction about half way through where you need to take a left. Going right leads you back towards Ome station on some sketchy trails that were not fun.

雷電山 is decidedly anti climactic, but that’s not a problem because you’re too busy running to be looking around, right? From the peak the trail starts crazily steep descent that leads to the road out. You can either run the road to the station or walk it as a warm down. It’s a little far for a walk so I ran it. The road descends pretty gently so it was a comfortable way to finish before taking the train pack to Ome station to collect my stuff.

I used the coin lockers at Ome station to store my stuff while out on the trail.