Kokonoe: Yume Otsuribashi Bridge and Tade-hara Marsh, a Highland Journey with a Walk in the Sky

This highland course spends a full day exploring the foot of the Kuju Mountain Range in Kokonoe-cho (九重町), Oita Prefecture. In the morning, greet the beauty of towering cliffs at Kyusuikei Gorge (九酔渓), where a switchback road winds along. At Kokonoe Yume Otsuribashi (九重夢大吊橋), Japan's highest pedestrian-only suspension bridge at 173 meters, a walk in the sky awaits, looking down on Shindo Falls (震動の滝), one of Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls, and the sweeping panorama of the gorge. At midday, get in touch with Kuju's nature at the Chojabaru Visitor Center (長者原ビジターセンター), then enjoy a mountain lunch at a nearby rest house. In the afternoon, make a full loop of the boardwalk through Tade-hara Marsh (タデ原湿原), registered under the Ramsar Convention, and breathe in the crisp highland air. The day concludes at Sujiyu Onsen (筋湯温泉), a hot-spring village of rising steam at 1,000 meters above sea level. Stroll through the stone-stepped hot spring town, and the lingering feeling of a day in the mountains will slowly settle in.