This time I went on a bike tour from Tokyo to Tateshina Ranch.
Tateshina Ranch is a highland ranch located in Tateshina Town, Nagano Prefecture, and is a spot where you can interact with animals such as cows, horses, goats, and sheep, and enjoy spectacular views of Mt. Tateshina and Lake Megami.
I have covered about 300km on my beloved Harley-Davidson FLSB Sport Glide. This time I would like to introduce the situation.
The route from Tokyo to Tateshina Farm is to take the Chuo Expressway from the Shuto Expressway’s Inner Loop Line, exit at the Suwa Minami IC, and pass through plateau roads such as the Yatsugatake Echo Line and Venus Line.
Along the way, you can admire mountains such as Mt. Fuji and Mt. Yatsugatake, as well as historic buildings along the Koshu Highway. I left in the morning and had lunch at a service area along the way.
We arrived at Tateshina Farm in about 4 hours.
Highlights of Tateshina Farm
出典：https://4travel.jp/dm_shisetsu/11288782
Tateshina Ranch has the first ranch and the second ranch.
The first ranch is a petting ranch where you can interact with small animals, and the second ranch is a full-fledged ranch where cows and horses graze on a vast grassland.
At Daiichi Farm, you can interact with goats and sheep. You can go inside the enclosure and feed and pet the animals, and the animals are very docile and cute.
Daiichi Farm also has a gondola lift. You can ride this to Gosensui Nature Park. Gosensui Nature Park is a nature observation garden located on the north slope of Mt. Tateshina, where you can see alpine plants and subalpine vegetation such as the sagebrush. From the gondola, you can enjoy views of Mt. Tateshina and Lake Megami.
Next is the second ranch. You will also need to travel by bike. The second farm is approximately 530,000 square meters in size and is home to approximately 200 dairy cows and 30 horses. You can walk through the grassland and get close to the animals, but just looking through the fence is impressive enough. The animals were free to graze and lie down. From the second farm, you can also see a panoramic view of Lake Shirakaba and Mt. Yatsugatake.
Motorcycle parking lot at Tateshina Farm
There is a motorcycle parking lot at Tateshina Farm. At Daiichi Farm, you can park your motorcycle at the Shirakaba Kogen Tourist Center parking lot. You can use it for free here. At the second ranch, you can park your motorcycle in the parking lot at the entrance of the ranch, which is also free to use. Both parking lots had plenty of space and I was able to park my bike safely.
Summary
This time I went on a bike tour from Tokyo to Tateshina Ranch. Tateshina Farm is a farm on a plateau, and it was a wonderful spot where you could interact with animals and see spectacular views. The roads I rode my bike on were comfortable and the scenery was beautiful. I think this is the perfect touring course to fully enjoy the nature of Shinshu. Next time I would like to go in a different season.
