About a 15-minute hike away from Hell Valley is a spectacular, large pool of heated water with clouds of steam rising above its surface; the Oyunuma (大湯沼)!
It's one of the largest thermal lakes in the world with a circumference of about a kilometer. The record holder is the Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand.
The temperature on the surface is about 40-50°C which is much lower than the nearby Oku no Yu (奥の湯) although at its deepest (22 meters), it can shoot to as high as 130°C!
Expected panorama (from me) for your viewing pleasure - that mountain behind the pond is Mt Hiyori; an 377-meter tall active volcano which didn't appear to be doubled the height of our very own Bukit Timah Hill!
Black soil deposits; in the past, i read that sulfur was mined from the bottom of the lake! I have no idea how that's possible as even with the use of equipment, i believe such excavation is extremely risky.
Walk was relaxing and cool even though we visited in the summer month of August!
With all the wasted steam, wouldn't it be good to harvest them for power generation? Okay, i am no expert and this just came to my mind.
Random picture!
Last panorama before we proceeded towards the interesting natural foot bath that's 'powered' by Oyunuma! In this hike we undertook at Noboribetsu, the foot bath was the highlight; so much so that we returned the next day for another therapeutic session!
To have a better idea on the walking trail we made on this day in the onsen town at Noboribetsu, click here.
To have a better idea on the walking trail we made on this day in the onsen town at Noboribetsu, click here.
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Location
Noboribetsu Onsencho,
Noboribetsu 059-0551,
Hokkaido, Japan
Location Map
Check out under the label for "Oyunuma Pond" under header "Noboribetsu (07-08 Aug)".
Parking
You can drive in your car but i would recommend the walking trail, where possible, as it's a pretty nice hike for my travel mates and i.
For our 8 days, 7 nights Hokkaido itinerary in summer, click here.
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