Doro-kyo Valley瀞峡

Precipitous cliffs and gigantic, oddly shaped rocks. A 31-kilometer-long valley in the tributary of Kumano-gawa River.

The Doro-kyo Valley is situated in the eastern Wakayama at the border with Nara and Mie. It is a collective term for the 31-kilometer-long ravines along the Kitayama-gawa River, a tributary of the Kumano-gawa River in the Yoshino-Kumano National Park. The valley was formed by erosion on the slates and sandstones. It is separated into Shimo-Doro, Kami-Doro and Oku-Doro from the downstream. Shimo-Doro, also known as Shimo-Hatcho, has the best scenic beauty and is designated as the precious natural monument.

Doro-Hatcho is a 1.2-kilometer-long ravine that stretches from Tamaoki-guchi in Kumano-gawa Town, Wakayama to Tado in Totsukawa Village, Nara. Sheer cliffs rise on both sides offering scenic views of gigantic rocks and oddly shaped rocks. You can view those scenes from a traditional Japanese style boat or a hovercraft that starts from Tamaoki-guchi or Shiko in the downstream.

In Oku-Doro, You can experience rafting steered by an expert raftsman with a single pole through the rapid currents, or on a rubber boat with an instructor. There are Kumano-gawa-onsen Hot Spring, Iruka-onsen Hot Spring and Yunokuchi-onsen Hot Spring in the surrounding areas. A lorry train runs 1 kilometer between Iruka-onsen and Yunokuchi-onsen in 10 minutes.