Onuma Park (大沼公園) 2019, Part 2

When I finished up in the main part of Onuma Park I had some time until I needed to return to Hakodate, so I decided to check out a section of the park that I hadn’t seen at all in 2017. A road and rail line cut through the park and cross the lakes, with the popular part of the park being on the east side of them. I crossed over to the west side and spent about 45 minutes exploring this less-visited section of Onuma.

The area west of the rail line isn’t that big and is mostly wilderness but you can find a few buildings such as Showa Temple. I suspect this Buddhist temple doesn’t get many visitors but it is remarkably well maintained and there’s something undeniably serene about it.

I followed a narrow dirt path through the wilderness, enjoying the scenery and taking photos as I passed through. At one point I must have taken a wrong turn because the path disappeared and I had to briefly cut through the woods to get back on the trail. The shadows were steadily getting longer and when I reemerged near Showa Temple I knew it was almost time to leave.

As I crossed over the train tracks I could see the platform at Onumakoen Station. I’m guessing most of the people waiting there were heading back to Hakodate or one of the small towns along the way there. Before leaving Onuma Park I got one last view of Mt Komagatake and also ate some ice cream from one of the shops near the main parking lot. In the late afternoon these shops all reduce their ice cream prices, so if you visit Onuma and can wait until later in the day to buy ice cream you can save a bit of money. I’d suggest trying squid ink ice cream if you’ve never had it before in Japan (it’s gray and has kind of a milky flavor). I then walked back to Onumakoen Station and got on the next train to Hakodate.