Nokogiriyama 鋸山

A nice daytrip from Tokyo on Boso peninsula in Chiba is Nokogiriyama. Only 300m of elevation but stunning views around the area and a lot to see.

Not been there yet in autumn, but should be a perfect spot for momiji too.

Besides the possibility to take the cable car up the mountain it is well possible to hike from Hana-kanaya station up to the main spots around Nihon-ji temple (like the great buddah statue, Mirador Jigoku Nozoki viewpoint and to wonder about the strange structures left behind after cutting blocks of stone out of the mountain) and the down to Hota station. The last part is very quiet and close to nature while in the first part the trail comes with a lot of stairs/ steps. Still it is a beautiful spot which to me personally appeared more rich than Takao-san for instance.

Beware though to think it's a 3h thing as there is no elevation (well 300m) and short distances. First the elevation adds up on your way, because descending and going up again and the ridgeline of nokogiriyama is also not a horizontal line. Second it might be crowded on the top spots, third the Nihon-ji temple area is really worth seeing which means you can easily spend two hours going back and forth, up and down there. Third the way down and to hota station is about 6km and it takes longer than you might think - though there are much shorter, direct ways than the one I took - though I recommend this one - by walking along the ridgeline towards east then descend to the lakes and then to Hota station.

Location: From Tokyo station it is possible to reach Hama-Kanaya station in less than 2 hours. Not the cheapest option though the most convenient is the Sazanami Limited Express, which takes from (e.g.) Akehabara station only about 90 minutes. You need a extra ticket besides your IC card though. There are other options like busses from Shinagawa or local trains.