Kegon Falls

Introduction

Kegon Falls in Nikkō, Tochigi, Japan, is the great cataract where water from Lake Chūzenji leaves the Ōjiri River and drops 97 m over a cliff in a band about 7 m wide, ranking with Nachi and Fukuroda among Japan's three most famous waterfalls. Roughly twenty thousand years ago lava from Mt Nantai blocked the valley to create Lake Chūzenji, and the outflow then cut through the lava plateau, producing this vertical column plunging into a rock basin. A paid elevator descends about 100 m to a viewing deck at the foot, where you look straight up at water hammering stone with spray on your face — far more powerful than the view from above. In the second half of October the contrast of red maples on the cliffs against the white column makes one of the most celebrated autumn scenes in eastern Japan, while deep winter often freezes it into blue-white icicles. The Irohazaka switchback road on the way up, with its forty-eight bends, is itself a classic drive.

✨ Highlights

🛈 Practical Info