The Kegon Falls are located in Nikko National Park. The falls were formed when the Daiya River was diverted by lava flows after a vulcono erupted. Apart from the Kegon waterfalls there are several smaller waterwalls in the near area. Kegon Falls draw their water from Lake Chūzenji (and indirectly the Oshiri River). The falls are 97 meter high, one of Japan's highest. In the autumn, the colors of the tree leafs are make the falls look realy beautiful. Lake Chūzenji is itself a nice attraction as well.
From the Nikko bus station we took the bus in the direction of Chuzenji Onsen (costing about 1100 yen). The bus ride by itself is already beautiful, as it runs through the start of the Japanese Alps. We traveled in springtime, and that is why we could still see through the canopy and savor the many beautiful views.
We got off at Akechidaira bus stop, at the Akechidaira plateau which was nothing more than a parking lot in the middle of nowhere. It has a small building, which houses a souvenir shop and the entrance to the ropeway carts that bring you to a panoramic viewpoint.
From the platform there are nice views of the Kegon Falls, Lake Chūzenji, and the surrounding mountains. It is also possible to go to a platform closer to the falls, and even to the foot of the falls, by elevator. But in my view this panorama is the nicest.
From the platform there is a several-hour walk to the falls. We only partly walked the trail because of the snow that still covered the slopes of the mountains. Instead, we returned to the busstop and took the next bus to Lake Chūzenji. At times the lake is flooded with tourists. But at the early spring, it was surprisingly quite. We enjoyed the view for a while and then hopped on the bus again, back to Nikko.
