Tony Sernack, Autumn colours (LANDSCAPE 2026)

The dirt road up to the Koyodai Observatory is one that many visitors to the Mt Fuji area might choose to avoid. We took it slowly both ways and fortunately there was very little traffic. The Observatory itself has a great view of Fujisan and the surrounding mountain range but it is rundown. A small fee to the elderly lady who runs allows you to go to the deck. The forest below was a blaze of colour in late autumn. Almost surreal and well worth the sidetrack. I've read that some visitors also took the Retro Bus (departs from Kawaguchiko Station) and alight at a nearby bus-stop on the main road to hike up the same dirt road. Upon reaching the summit of the hill (about 100 m elevation according to Google Maps), you can choose to view Mt Fuji from the free car-park, or you may wish to pay a small fee to enter the roof-top of the Resthouse. I chose to shoot Mt Fuji from the carpark during my visit.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.