Which trail/side of Mt Fuji is best to see the sunset and sunrise respectively?

by Amin
(Tokyo, Japan)

Thank you for your very informative site, Gary. Very much appreciated. About my question, I'm planning to do a day-climb next week to the summit in time to see the sunset, stay the night, wake up in time to see the sunrise, then descent down.

Which trail/side of Mount Fuji should I take to best see the sunset from the summit & then the sunrise? A lot of sites say the Yoshida trail is best to see the sunrise, but no sites say which is best to see the sunset.

Much obliged. Thanks.

Amin

************

Great question, Amin. If you arrive at the summit in time for the sunset, which trail you choose probably doesn't matter, since Mt. Fuji's summit cone is less than 1 km across and you can hike around it in only an hour and a half (http://garywolff.com/mt_fuji_trail_maps/ohachimeguri_trail_map.jpg).

None of the 4 trails actually face west, but the Fujinomiya route (http://garywolff.com/mt_fuji_trail_maps/fujinomiya_trail_map.jpg), even though it approaches from the south, is the most western route. I would choose this one, just in case you don't make the summit before sunset.

And any place on the east side of the Mt. Fuji summit cone should be a good place to see the sunrise.

I climbed the Fujinomiya trail in Aug. 2012 myself, but for other reasons. Its 5th Station is the highest starting point of all 4 routes, and is the shortest distance to the top. :-) It's also MUCH, MUCH less crowded than the main Yoshida trail.

And I was able to see both the sunset from the nearby Kengamine Peak (Mt. Fuji's actual 3776m highpoint) & sunrise the next morning from the top of the Fujinomiya trail in front of the Chojo Fujikan summit mountain hut where I slept the night before.

Here is my Flickr album where you can see my pics of both the sunset & sunrise: Mt. Fuji's Fujinomiya Climbing Route

Best wishes!!