Aso National Park

Aso National Park is located on a volcanic Kyushu island in Japan, which is located in the southern part of the other main islands of the country. In the very middle of the island lies the picturesque mountain range Aso, which is one of the most beautiful and unique mountains in the world.

The area of the mountain, which was declared a national park, is built of contrasting landscapes and panoramas. Here, lush green meadows and dense forests alternate with bare black-brown fields of lava that had once erupted from the crater of the mountain, which fascinate with its odd shapes and strange ridove. It is an unusual shape for a mountain range.

The volcanic island Kyushu is most easily reached by plane, which lands at the airport in the nearby town of Kumamoto. Aso National Park can be reached by railway lines.

Mount Aso itself is an active, poly volcano with caldera of about 130 km. Tourists who have breathing problems or suffer from asthma, are not recommended to go to near the volcanic crater.

There are about75 000 people living in this dependent on volcanic activity region. They inhabit a total of five towns and villages. Tourists come here mostly because of Nakadake Mountain, which is the active volcano in the caldera. The last time it erupted was late last century. Today its crater regularly raises large amounts of sulfur and other toxic gases.

Hence why a tourists stay here is limited to a day or two. For the convenience of visitors a gondola was built, which makes approaching the active volcano easy and pleasant. Different options to get there are available, namely by car on foot, walking among the mixed nature.

As an antithesis of the impressive crater area is full of many beautiful and fertile fields and rolling hills full of lush pastures. They are often interrupted by shallow lakes. North to the wall of the crater is an area that has formed, with lush, overgrown, thick vegetation, which locals call, the Green Niagara.