Oct–NovThe Yuki-no-Ōtani walk at Murodō, 2,450 m up: when it opens, how tall the walls really get year by year, what the weather does to it and when to go. Dates are 2026; 2027 is not announced.
The 2027 snow-wall dates are not announced. The walk ran 15 April – 25 June in 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026, 9:30–15:00, and the Alpine Route opened on 15 April in 2025 and 2026, so plan around those dates. The 2026 walls were 12 m, the lowest of the years in the table below.
The Yuki-no-Ōtani (雪の大谷) snow wall is a road cut through the snow at Murodō, 2,450 m, on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Walkers get a roughly 500 m stretch between the walls, 9:30–15:00, free with an Alpine Route ticket (¥7,380 return from Tateyama in 2026). Heights recent years: 12 m (2026), 16 m (2025), 14 m (2024), 13 m (2023). The walls are tallest from mid-April to early May and shrink to about 9–11 m by late June. Poor visibility or snowfall can close or shorten the walk.
Murodō is buried in snow every winter, and the snow on the Tateyama Highland Road can approach 20 m deep. Each spring crews dig that road out for the Highland Bus, and the cut leaves walls on both sides. The walk puts you on a stretch of it, on foot, under walls as tall as a four-storey building.
You reach it by the Alpine Route, so the ticket is the real cost: see Alpine Route tickets for fares, the WEB ticket and what sells out around Golden Week. For the full route and Murodō itself, start at the main guide.
The wall is measured at its highest point in mid-April. Published figures differ, so these are the ones I could trace to an actual measurement.
| Year | Wall height | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 12 m | 14 Apr |
| 2025 | 16 m | 14 Apr |
| 2024 | 14 m | 14 Apr |
| 2023 | 13 m | Ties the low of 1998 and 2016 |
| 2021 | 14 m | Mid-April |
| 2000 | 20 m | Record in the 30-year list, opening day 20 Apr |
The 30-year average is about 16 m; 19 m in 2006, 2015 and 2017; 13 m in 1998, 2016 and 2023. The 12 m of 2026 is below all of those lows. Some sites quote 17 m or about 20 m for recent years; I could not trace those to a measurement.
| Year | Mid-April | Early May | Mid-May | Late May | Early June | Mid-June | Late June |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 (actual) | 14.0 m | 14.0 m | 13.0 m | 12.0 m | 11.0 m | 10.0 m | 9.0 m |
| 10-year average | 16.3 m | 15.6 m | 14.2 m | 13.1 m | 12.0 m | 10.9 m | 10.1 m |
The first row is 2021, the second the 10-year average; both are tallest at the start and about 9–10 m by 25 June, when the walk closes. In some years the peak comes in early May: the 2020 figures were 15.0 m in mid-April and 15.9 m in early May.
A marked walking zone on the Highland Road, about 500 m long, with the wall rising on both sides. You walk it and back; there is nothing to climb. The Highland Bus drives the same road, so you see the walls from the bus too, but only the walk lets you stand under them. Entry is free once you hold an Alpine Route ticket.
Crews dig from the top down with ploughs, because no machine can lift 10 m or more of snow in one pass. About 2,400 poles mark the 23 km road, 3.5 m bamboo low down and 9 m logs higher up, set out in September before the snow. GPS has helped since 1998, but the poles are still the main reference. Only the most experienced operators clear the deepest section.
By mid-May the walls are lower and the sun is warm, but you can still stand well below the top. In 2021 the wall was 13 m in mid-May and 12 m in late May. Mikurigaike pond starts to show from mid-May, and the Daikanbo snow tunnel opens on the second-floor deck. The photograph shows the walls in mid-May 2023.
On a holiday the walking zone is a slow procession, as this photo dated 4 May 2008 shows. The 2026 timetable flags 15 April to 15 May as peak days, and the operator warns it can limit same-day tickets for day-trippers in early May. The cable car at Tateyama is the bottleneck, so the booked time on the WEB ticket is what saves you.
The walk is run by the organising committee under a safety policy: if visibility is poor, snow is falling or anything else looks dangerous, it can cancel the walk or shorten the course, and it can pause it while the road is being cleared. Drones are banned, and staff direct where you may go. A grey day is still walkable; a whiteout is not.
Both sides end at the same walk. The difference is the fare, the clock and where you slept.
| Toyama side (Tateyama) | Nagano side (Ōgizawa) | |
|---|---|---|
| Fare to Murodō and back | ¥7,380 from Tateyama (plus the Chiho Railway ¥1,420 each way from Toyama) | ¥12,300 from Ōgizawa |
| Earliest at Murodō (2026 timetable) | 8:30 ordinary days, 7:50 on peak days | 8:55 on the 7:30 departure |
| Journey from the station | Cable car 7 min + Highland Bus 50 min | Kanden bus 16 min, dam walk, two cable cars and a bus: 1h 25m |
| Booked time | Tateyama Cable Car | Kanden Tunnel Electric Bus |
| Getting there early | 5:10 first train from Dentetsu-Toyama | 6:15 first bus from Shinano-Ōmachi; Nagano's first express reaches Ōgizawa at 9:25 |
| Best for | Toyama or Kanazawa bases; the shorter, cheaper trip | Ōmachi or Nagano bases, and when Tateyama is sold out |
Fares are 2026; times are from the 2026 timetable A (15 April – 3 November). The Nagano side's first Kanden bus from Ōgizawa is 7:30 on ordinary days. Staying in Ōmachi makes the early start work; see stays on the tickets page.
Murodō is cold, bright and windy, and the walk is a short one. (Murodō walks and stays)
A tour handles the bus, the timed slots and the ride back, and spares you the booking race in the first week of May.
A guided day on the route from Kanazawa: the snow walls in spring, the high plateau and Kurobe Dam, with transport handled.
See on Klook ↗The Yuki-no-Ōtani snow corridor with a stop at Takaoka's National Treasure temple. Spring only.
See on Klook ↗A bus from Takayama to Ōgizawa, then the route's vehicles to Tateyama Station: the Nagano-side approach in one purchase.
See on Klook ↗Most people go up from Toyama. Sleep at Murodō if you want the walls before the day groups, or near Tateyama for the first cable car. Hotel Tateyama at Murodō ended its accommodation business on 31 August 2026, so the lodge is now the way to sleep at the top.
The lodge beside Japan's oldest mountain hut, a short walk across the plateau from the terminal. Sleeping here puts you at the snow walls and the pond before the day groups arrive. Private and shared tatami rooms; open mid-April to late November.
A hotel near Tateyama Station, so the first cable car (7:00 in the 2026 timetable) is a short step away. The operator lists it as a stay whose guests can forward luggage across the mountain.
Opened in 2022 on the upper floors of the JR Toyama Station building, run by JR West Hotels. Upper floors face Tateyama or the city, and Dentetsu-Toyama is a short walk away.
The 2027 dates are not announced (checked 14 October 2026). The Yuki-no-Ōtani walk ran 15 April – 25 June in 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026, 9:30–15:00, so those are the dates to plan around; the route itself opened on 15 April in 2025 and 2026. You reach it on the Alpine Route, so the route has to be open too.
12 m in 2026, 16 m in 2025, 14 m in 2024 and 13 m in 2023, each measured around mid-April. The record is 20 m in 2000, and the 30-year average is about 16 m. The walls shrink through the season, from about 14 m in mid-April to about 9 m in late June in 2021.
Walls are tallest from mid-April to early May, so a weekday in late April, outside 29 April – 6 May, is the balance I would choose. Golden Week brings the longest queues for the cable car. By mid-May the walls are lower but the weather is milder, and Mikurigaike pond starts to show; by late June they are about 9–11 m.
The walk is free, but you need an Alpine Route ticket to reach Murodō (¥7,380 return from Tateyama in 2026). The walking zone is about 500 m long and open 9:30–15:00. Plan 30–45 minutes there and back, longer on holidays when it fills.
The organisers can cancel the walk or shorten the course for poor visibility, snowfall or any other danger, and can pause it while snow is cleared. A WEB ticket is refunded only if a transport section is suspended, so keep a spare day and check the Murodō live camera on the day. Drones are banned and staff instructions must be followed.
Both reach the same Murodō walk. From Tateyama it is ¥7,380 return and Murodō is 8:30 at the earliest on an ordinary day in the 2026 timetable. From Ōgizawa it is ¥12,300 return and about 1h 25m on the 7:30 departure, but the first Nagano express bus only reaches Ōgizawa at 9:25, so an early start means sleeping in Ōmachi. Choose Ōgizawa if Tateyama sells out or your trip heads to Nagano.
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