December is not the best time to visit the gorge. Come in autumn or spring when the flowers are blooming or when the leaves are in a rich tapestry of red, and yellow. Ride the cable car up and down to photograph the colours. There’s a gift shop and local produce shop at the top.

We took the ropeway up and walked down which like to do in places such as this. We get two different experiences and two different views of everything. There is a separate review of the ropeway experience with its rock formations and colorful trees. There are two trails down, we took the longer western trail because it ended up right at the bus stop below the ropeway station. We visited a few days before peak, though the Tourist Information Center told us the gorge was at peak. The colors were good, but by no means great. Some of the best color on the top was behind the toilet block which is worth a visit if only for its interesting design. The viewpoint east of the station also had some of the best color we saw on the summit. The view out to the coast was quite nice but we came for color not distant panoramas. The summit was rather disappointing. Its main purpose seemed to be accommodating loads of tourist buses whose passengers wanted to shop, buy souvenirs or plants, and eat. There were a few lookout viewpoints which we searched out. We arrived early in the morning. As the morning progressed the place got more and more crowded. The walk down was pretty exciting, with views of contorted and bizarre volcanic rock. There are many places where one could get mind blowing shots but some of the viewpoints looked very dangerous. We stuck to the path for most of the way down. There are signs, Japanese only, with photos of what can be seen in the rock formations if you look in the right direction. It took us a while to figure the signs out. The walk down was perhaps the best part of the visit. It took us an hour and 45 minutes to get to the bottom but we stopped for photography. Once you return to the bottom, check the posted bus schedule and get in line. The line formed quickly beginning about a half hour before the bus was scheduled to arrive. There is only so much room on each bus, even with people standing, those at the back of the line had to wait for the next bus. We took turns holding our place in line whilst the other wandered around and took more photos. There were some very nice colorful trees around the edge of the parking lot and a small stream with a bridge. Visitor's tips - go early, bring a snack, ropeway up and walk down.