Hakkoda-Towada Gold Line (Route 103)

The Hakkoda crossing on Route 103 past Sukayu Onsen, famous for spring snow walls and autumn beech.

This is the mountain section of National Route 103 over the Hakkoda massif south of Aomori City, promoted as the Hakkoda-Towada Gold Line on its way toward Lake Towada. The road threads dense beech and Maries' fir forest with steady hairpins as it climbs to the highlands around Sukayu Onsen, the historic lone hot spring it connects through, then continues south past Yachi Onsen. It is best known for two seasons: spring, when the freshly cleared road runs between towering snow walls, and mid-October, when the Hakkoda and Jogakura slopes turn gold and crimson. The driving is a classic forested touge of linked switchbacks rather than open sweepers. The high section closes for winter and reopens around April. Mind the long winter closure and late-spring snow walls narrowing the lanes, frequent fog and sulphur steam near Sukayu, and slow sightseeing buses on the hairpins.