Yamanouchi Review

Even the weather is very cold in winter and the way to go is very hard , you can find the cute monkeys at this park.

Nice scenic walk to the top where the monkey's are. Seeing monkey in their natural environment is an experience. Japanese people really respect their nature and it shows.

It is worth a visit for once.

Walking a long distance, needing heavy snow to soak the monkey a lot.

Wonderful experience. Saw lots of monkeys. The monkeys tolerate people very well. Of course, you cannot touch or feed them. The location is about an hour from Nagano. Buy the Snow Monkey pass which includes transportation and entrance fee.

Well, i m sure you can make wonderful pictures with a good camera in winter. We went there on a very sunny day in the end of april. It was ok, but could have skipped it actually.

The view was great and the monkeys were lovely. Too bad they were not in the onsen but they were sunbathing.

Really nice to see wildlife up close, ideally in winter

Monkeys go to hot springs for sale, and there are wild monkeys, but they are tamed. Monkeys do not like to enter the hot spring unless it is extremely cold, so you can only see the monkeys during the hot spring.

Great place to visit. The monkeys are in complete freedom. They are however accustomed to the Man and pass by you as if nothing had happened. Allow 1h30 on the spot. I loved !

Is monkey Park very very good exhibits and I would definitely come back again

A great experience all throughout. I would definitely recommend going here during winter.

I'm sure it would be better when it's cold enough for the monkeys to get in the hot spring pools. The staff throw a bit of food around which is probably why the monkeys keep coming back when it isn't cold. They were very cute and fairly tame. Kids will love it.

Entrance is 800yen for each adult. Snow monkey is in the wild but still chils friendly. Staffs are around to safeguard visitors. The area for visitor to move around is around 200m. Need quite some walking from parking area to get to the Monkey Park

Awesome park. Around 2 km after the bus stop. We took a 3200 yen ticket from Nagano station, including a round trip to the park + entrance fee. Which might have been a little expensive. Monkeys are super cute and not actually wild, they are used to people and even pose for pictures.

It's fine there are many small ones, without nine in summer

Bit of a walk but worth it, just watch your step during winter can get slippery and also the monkeys might grab stuff

You can see a wild monkey bathing in a hot spring. Due to the influence introduced by the media, the number of group customers has increased in recent years, and it may be difficult to observe slowly. Note that it is necessary to walk on a sloped road from the parking lot to the site.

It certainly wasn't what I had imagined. 1 or 2 pools with 2-3 monkeys surrounded by dozens of tourists with large cameras aimed at the monkeys while they bathe. You could sometimes see the monkeys face look worried or scared instead of being relaxed. Somehow it felt wrong. I didn't stay long. On my way back a long line of tourists were making their way to the small park.

An original park among Japanese monkeys. To get there you have a good half hour walk on a well laid out path so no worries!

Amazing and nature place, lot of monkeys. But I used around 1 hour somethings to walk in there (not easy to walk). It was very interesting place! But remember not to close of the monkeys, because they will really beat you!

Didn't get to see the snow monkey after walking for 30 minutes to reach the ticket entrance no monkey after 4pm
Sad I hope they put up sign to inform tourist save us the 1 hour walk thru and from

Very cool place where you can get extremely close to the monkeys and observe them naturally interacting with each other.

In a very beautiful area where you are surrounded by hills flushed with trees and greenery making for some great pictures.

Definelty suggest you visit here if you get the chance!

Come see the monkeys, soaking in the snow, feel the best, walk up the snowy mountain in two directions for a long distance. Feeling like another world ever. Worth the decision

Great experience. Monkeys come close but aren t aggressive. We can recommend this place.

Great experience. Takes approximately 30mins to hike to the park from the entry point. The track can get pretty muddy and slippery so wear sturdy shoes. The monkeys are a great sight and they appear well looked after.

It takes about 30 minutes one way from the nearest bus stop to the hot springs where monkeys gather, but at the destination we can see the unmaintained nature and wild monkeys. It seems that we may not be able to meet due to the season and weather because we gather with minimal feeding. The staff is kind and knowledgeable. Many foreign tourists also observe the rules and enjoy observing. It is a place you want to visit as often as you like every season.

Went here off-season, was warned by various tourist officers that there may be no monkeys as they don t always come down from the mountains but fear not. Make the effort, head to the park and get there around mid morning to find the park staff blowing whistles to signal to the monkeys that it s lunch time! They throw apples and seeds out and the monkeys come tumbling down the mountainside for snacks, so many of them! If in doubt go along and take the chance, it s worth it.

Parking lot information is too small.
The grandfather 's grandfather was unable to cope with congestion and panicked.
"Please come back later because it is full" ...
I was looking forward but I gave up because I was not allowed to line up until the parking lot was empty.

Pretty worth a visit; see monkey bubble soup and mountain climbing

You can see monkeys in hot springs, which is rare in the world.
You can't see a bath scene in the warm season, so please go to see it in the middle of winter.

We got there early (about 8:45 am) and there was already a queue of about a dozen people. Doors opened at 9 am sharp.

We went in and they had just put some food down so there were plenty of monkeys around. They are not fazed by humans and seem to go about their normal business all around you.

The track up was a little bit muddy so wear suitable shoes. It has also been a relatively warm winter for japan so there wasn t really much snow and ice on the ground. In normal winters I imagine it could be a lot more slippery.

After about 9:30/10 it started to get much busier and it wasn t the same atmosphere as there were a lot more people. The monkeys also seemed to thin out a bit as well but I don t know if that is a what normally happens.

We were a bit concerned it would be too artificial with the moneys enticed by food to come to the pool. However it was a great experience and they seemed to act as if we weren t there which was good. Worth the trip up.

We also spent the night in the local town sampling the Onsens. It was an unexpected bonus.

Long walk but great when you saw the monkeys. Good exercise.

The environment is very good and the planning is great! Have taken care of this group of little monkeys.

Walk around 4 kilometers, more tired than a monkey.

Went on Dec. 30, 2019. Thankfully, there were lots of snow when we visited. I bought a shoe grip from the store across North Face in Hakuba the day before (I think it was around 1500yen), and I don't regret it! It was super useful for the icy/slippery areas. I think I can use it for future travels. But you can also rent it out at the entrance. The place was beautiful. There were a lot of people though. Better to arrive in the morning since more people arrive around lunchtime.

Walk about 30 minutes on the mountain path of snow and ice barn.
I've seen some people lying down.
Be careful with small children and pregnant women.
It's hard, but it's worth it.
The baby monkey was really cute.

happy monkeys that were easy to see up close. try to be respectful and don't shove cameras in their faces, as some visitors did.

I liked this watching monkeys families bathing on the hot water is exceptional

A monkey is near! Monkeys do not enter the hot spring when it is warm, though it does not walk hard before snowfall from the thaw (laugh)

Very picturesque area. Long walk but easy from bus parking area. However there were no monkeys

It was a pity although monkeys were fun to be seen in the near future. When it says something, it is absence of manner of tourists. It takes about 30 minutes (1.5 km) to walk from the parking lot to the Jigokudani, but the sidewalks are narrow, the winter is frozen and there is no fence, so it is dangerous. Nevertheless, because the people who passed each other crossed in two rows without walking in one row, it was in dangerous situation if they moved. That was disappointing. However, I was interested in preparing foreign tourists (telescope, single lens reflex camera).

the actual onsen isn't very big and It's just one pool.
best to go when cold n greater chance of monkeys bathing.
the walk up is serene and scenic, my fave part of the whole experience. i think the gift shop/entrance office has a nice write up on the monkeys. very interesting to read.
plenty of coin lockers available there. the kinds that give coins back afterwards.

It's a nice place to visit, but chk the fb page and other sources to make sure u go at tgw right time.

Quite a trek but worth it to see it once.

We did a day trip from Tokyo so it was a long day - Used our JR passes then got the Snow Monkey Pass from the train station that includes the bus rides (or train) plus the park entrance fee.

Was a bit of a walk from the bus station to actually getting to see the monkeys but not too far ... slippery and lots of steps so would not recommend bringing very young children or people in wheelchairs.

Was great when we finally got to see the monkeys doing their thing. Would come back with first timers but probably not otherwise.

Can give the Cafe Enza at the bottom of the hill a miss.

You can learn the ecology of monkeys. Monkeys do not enter hot springs very much in summer, but they often enter in winter.

Lotta monkeys in February. The walk is pretty long over snow covered trail so bring walking shoes.. it is slippery

Good with snow on ground, plenty of space for moneys to watch monkeys! Imagine it could be smelly in hot weather. Route up quite icy and treacherous in places- definitely advise good footwear!

There were plenty of monkeys on a warm, sunny Spring morning, but only one bathing. A mischievous monkey pushed another into the pool, so it stayed and enjoyed the water for awhile. We we're the first to arrive at the entrance and waited for a park attendant to collect our admission fee, but nobody arrived and a small crowd gathered. Finally, we gave up and hiked to the end where there is another entrance with an attendant to collect fees. The park was OK, but it could be tidier and better organized. It is worth the time and admission fee to have a few giggles with the snow monkeys.

Lots of monkeys, lots of people, nice walk through the forest, no snow in the erea at the end of March - a perfect day!

It's a bit harsh on the road, but it's very mature and you can see it nearby. You should definitely come.

It is very close to the monkeys and very good, but it may be good in winter.

A really nice walking along a beautiful forest view. The best season to see monkey having onsen is winter though. I was here in early March which is not too cold.

I bought an all-you-can-eat monkey park ticket by taking a train and a bus for two days at Nagano Electric Railway. It was 3500 yen, but it was fun with free tickets with admission ticket (800 yen) included. Although it is only in the English version, it was okay because there is Japanese explanation.

Beautiful location, monkeys everywhere. Once in a lifetime experience. I recommend staying in the nearby inn and making g it an overnight trip.

Interesting park landscape with hot springs and macaques.

This is a valuable place where you can see the Japanese monkeys soaking in the hot springs. I was surprised that there were many foreigners.
It is recommended that you arrive early because it took time to stop at the parking lot due to congestion.
I walked on a snowy 30-minute snowy road until the monkey was there, so I needed winter clothes and some physical strength, but even younger children could walk.
Monkeys said they could only enter the hot spring when it was cold, and when we went there were only a few monkeys. It is strange that humans are now stuck around the hot spring waiting for monkeys to enter the hot spring.
Monkeys seem to be used to human beings, and it is fun to see them passing by and playing around.

This is a must-visit place if you travel with children. They will love it. We choose to visit the park before the snow covers all the pathways, so we did not need special shoes and we could hike easily.

Loved the snow monkeys who were not shy at all. Great harmony with nature and animals in the wild.

Rare Parking
The walk into the beautiful interior.
Strict staff to control tourists not disturb the animals well.
Cute monkey
Should come snowfall

Another must visit place in Japan. In winters it s covered in thick snow.

After a 30 minutes hike in the snowy forest of Jigokudani, there you are. The Japanese macaques in their natural environment.

I can stay forever here to watch them. They are so cute

Please give monkey some space and privacy. Respect the nature keep clean as your visit

Feels a bit like a tourist trap. Fun to look at the monkeys but it is a significant amount of travel to just go there to see them. Try to plan to do other things when you are there otherwise it's not worth going.

It was taken up by various media as an international tourist destination where monkeys are immersed in hot springs in winter, so I wanted to go there once. Unfortunately, when I went in mid-January, I couldn't see the monkeys used for the hot springs. When buying an entrance ticket at the park, the staff at the counter said, "This year there are few monkeys, so you may not be able to see the bathing scene. The monkeys are coming down because the staff is guiding. ]. So it was a memorabilia when I could not see it passed at the counter. I could not see the bathing scene, but I could see the staff gathering monkeys with bait and whistle.

It s a nice hike to get up to the monkey park from Shibu Onsen. As the damage by the 2019 taifun was severe, there is a lot of construction work that needs to be done. I wish the team all the best of luck with the ongoing work.

Special place to visit. Need to walk for 30 minutes.

Such an incredible place. Very fun and unique experience, and the hike up is almost worth it alone. Cannot reccommend it enough to people visiting Japan.

Bucket list tick. This is an amazing, wonderful place to visit. Magical. One of the best days of my life, seeing snow monkeys up close, in the wild.

Nice walk from the bus stop to the monkies. Too warm for them to sit in the onsen, but plenty around doing monkey sort of things. Quite steep.