Lake Chuzenji 2019: Kegon Waterfall

The next morning it was a wet, foggy day in Nikko. A storm was passing through the mountains and although it wasn’t going to be raining all the time it wasn’t what you would call good sightseeing conditions. Regardless, I wasn’t going to let the weather stop me, so I grabbed my rain jacket and umbrella and walked down to Tobu Nikko Station where I bought a 2-day bus pass. Then I got the next bus to Lake Chuzenji, a mountain lake about six miles west of Nikko, where I’d be spending most of that day.

I got off the bus at Chuzenjiko Onsen, the small town at the northeast corner of Lake Chuzenji. The free observation platform for Kegon Waterfall is short walk from the Chuzenjiko Onsen bus terminal and I started my sightseeing there. Thick clouds were blocking the view of the waterfall when I first got there but a minute later I caught a gap in the clouds and snapped a few photos before the waterfall disappeared again. Kegon Waterfall is about 328 feet (100 meters) tall and is where the water flows out of Lake Chuzenji. I read online that Kegon is regarded as one of Japan’s most scenic waterfalls, especially in autumn when all the trees around it change colors, but unfortunately for me I was only able to catch a short glimpse of it.