Mugikusa Pass (Route 299)

The Marchen Kaido over Mugikusa Pass, Japan’s second-highest national-highway pass, through Yatsugatake’s mossy forests.

Nicknamed the Marchen Kaido (Fairytale Road), this stretch of National Route 299 climbs over Mugikusa Pass at 2,127 metres, the second-highest point on any Japanese national highway after Shibu Pass on Route 292, crossing the Yatsugatake range between Chino on the Tateshina side and Sakuho on the eastern side. The climb is a long sequence of well-surfaced switchbacks and sweepers through deep, moss-carpeted conifer forest, with Shirakoma Pond and its fairytale woods near the top. It is a genuine point-to-point crossing rather than a loop, which makes it a satisfying drive in its own right as well as a link between the Suwa and Saku basins. It is high and snowbound in winter. Mind the winter closure of the pass section, early-morning frost and lingering ice in the shaded forest, and cyclists and hikers near Shirakoma Pond.