Hakone Autumn Leaves 2026: When to Go, the Best Spots and How to Get Around

Hakone's autumn leaves usually peak in November, and the colour usually moves downhill: Lake Ashi and Sengokuhara in early November, Gora and Miyanoshita in mid-to-late November, and Yumoto last, from late November into early December.

For 2026, the private forecaster Weathernews (as of 3 September) expects the peak to start around 16 November at Gora Park, 17 November at Lake Ashi and 19 November at the Hakone Museum of Art.

One thing is different this year. The Hakone Museum of Art, whose moss-and-maple garden is one of Hakone's best-known autumn views, is fully closed for renovation until 29 October 2026 and reopens in stages. Everything below was checked on 23 September 2026 against the operators' own pages and the Hakone Tourist Association. The only exception is the 2026 peak forecast, which comes from a private weather company and is labelled as such.

When to go: usually four autumns, stacked by altitude

Hakone's slopes span a wide range of altitude, so autumn usually arrives in four waves, one for each band. The Hakone Tourist Association describes the usual order like this, in an explainer last updated on 25 October 2017:

To put numbers on the climb: Gora station sits at about 541 m (Gora Park's figure) and Owakudani at about 1,000 m (Odakyu Hakone's figure). If you can only make one trip, aim for mid-to-late November around Gora. That is where the tourist association's usual timing and both 2026 forecasts for Gora-area spots (about 16 and 19 November) overlap. Weathernews's 2026 forecast for Lake Ashi (from about 17 November, with leaves starting to fall around 30 November) falls in the same window.

The altitude order is only the usual pattern. Weathernews gives Lake Ashi's usual peak as early November, but its 2026 forecast has the lake starting around 17 November, about the same time as Gora Park (around 16 November). This year Lake Ashi may not turn before Gora.

On 23 September the tourist association's live foliage page was still showing last season's final report, and on 2 October the Japan Weather Association's tenki.jp listed the Hakone Museum of Art as still green, with a 2026 peak forecast of late November to early December. Check current colour just before you travel.

The six spots at a glance (2026)

"Usual peak" varies by source, so both are shown where they differ. The 2026 forecast column is Weathernews's estimate as of 3 September 2026. It is a forecast, not an announcement.

To compare Hakone with Kyoto, Tokyo or Nikko, our sister site Japan-Event has a Japan-wide autumn foliage 2026 planning guide.

Important in 2026: the Hakone Museum of Art reopens in stages

The museum stands in Shinsenkyo, a garden designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty on 26 March 2021. The museum's moss-garden page counts about 130 kinds of moss and some 220 maples. Its seasons page says 120 and 200, and the tourist association says "over 200". This year's schedule:

• Fully closed for renovation: 7 May – 29 October 2026.
• 30 October 2026, pre-opening: a new café in the rest area and the Annex exhibition room open. The English notice calls the schedule "anticipated".
• 23 December 2026, grand reopening: the main building's galleries reopen.
• The museum's official Instagram, shown on its homepage, says the normally closed inner garden (Oku-niwa) is planned to open for the 30 October reopening.

The pre-opening falls just before the moss garden's usual peak, which the tourist association puts at mid-to-late November. But the notice does not say which parts of the garden open on which days. Pre-opening admission has now been announced on the official ticket page: online tickets, valid from 30 October, have been on sale since 1 October at ¥1,000 for adults, ¥500 for high-school and university students, and free for junior-high age and under. Prices from 23 December have not been announced yet (checked 2 October). Check the official site before you go.

For reference, the regular prices on the fee page (checked 23 September) are ¥1,430 for adults, ¥660 for high-school and university students, and free entry for junior-high age and under. Hours are 9:30–16:30 from April to November (last entry 16:00), and the museum is normally closed on Thursdays (open when a Thursday is a public holiday). The English guide page says the museum and Shinsenkyo open every day in November, but the same page still carries 2024 holiday dates, so treat that as past practice. The nearest stop is Koen-kami on the Hakone Tozan Cable Car, about one minute on foot (Odakyu Hakone's foliage page). The museum asks visitors to stay off the moss and lawns.

Gora Park: maples, autumn roses and a historic teahouse

Gora Park, run by Odakyu Hakone, is a hillside garden between two cable-car stops. Koen-shimo (about 574 m) serves the main gate, and Koen-kami (about 611 m) serves the west gate. Enter by the west gate and your walk through the park is all downhill.

• Hours: 9:00–17:00 from March to November (last entry 16:30). Its three maintenance closures fall on 1 January, the third Monday of January and the second Monday of May, so it opens daily through the autumn.
• Admission: ¥650 for adults, free for elementary-school age and under. Entry is free with the Hakone Freepass, the Nonbiri Kippu or the Owakudani Kippu. You can re-enter the same day or the next day by showing your receipt (the combined Gora Park + Hakone Museum of Art ticket does not allow re-entry).
• Hakuun-do teahouse: matcha with a sweet costs ¥750. Sittings run 10:00–12:00 (last entry 11:30) and 13:00–16:00 (last entry 15:30). The tea rooms were begun in the 1910s by Masuda Takashi (Don'o), passed to Hara Sankei in 1922 and to Matsunaga Jian in 1940. Our Hakone tea ceremony guide covers this walk-in session in detail.
• Autumn roses and concerts: roses in the roughly 1,000 m² rose garden start blooming in early October and peak toward late October. The free Autumn Rose Garden Concerts run on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 10 October to 3 November 2026 (10 days), at 11:30 and 13:30, each about 30 minutes (park admission required).
• A seasonal sweet: until 30 November, the park's Isshikido Saro café serves the "Momiji Noir" parfait (¥900), topped with an edible maple leaf.
• Light-up: as of 23 September 2026, the park's official news list has not announced an autumn light-up for 2026. Check its news page from October.

Gora Park asks visitors to come by public transport, because nearby parking is limited and can fill up in the morning.

Hakone Open-Air Museum: sculpture and colour

This outdoor sculpture museum opened in 1969 and is a two-minute walk from Chokoku-no-Mori station on the Hakone Tozan Railway. Odakyu Hakone's autumn feature points to the maples around the circular plaza and the roughly 10,000 m² of lawn, and puts the usual peak at mid-to-late November. The museum is open 9:00–17:00 every day (last entry 30 minutes before closing). Tickets:

• Adults: ¥2,000 at the door, ¥1,800 online
• University and high-school students: ¥1,600, or ¥1,400 online
• Junior-high and elementary students: ¥800, or ¥600 online
• Preschool children: free

The grounds also have a forest foot bath (ashiyu) fed by the museum's own hot-spring source.

Owakudani and the Hakone Ropeway

The ropeway runs from Sounzan to Togendai on the Lake Ashi shore, stopping at Owakudani and Ubako. Each section takes about 10 minutes, and 18-person gondolas leave about every minute. Hours are 9:00–17:00 from February to November and 9:00–16:15 in December and January. Since 1 October 2025 the fare has been uniform: ¥2,000 one way (children ¥700) or ¥3,000 return, valid for two days (children ¥1,000). Owakudani station and its forecourt reopened after renovation on 25 April 2025, adding a hands-on viewing area called Chikyu no Tani ("Valley of the Earth").

Odakyu Hakone lists the stretch from Owakudani, which sits on the flank of Mt Kanmurigatake, to Ubako as an autumn-leaves spot, usually at its best from early to late November. Between Owakudani and Togendai you get autumn colour set against Mount Fuji. Because Hakone's high ground usually colours first (from late October, per the tourist association), in a typical year the upper slopes are further along than Gora when Gora peaks.

The operator says roads around Owakudani get especially congested in foliage season, and suggests drivers use the free car park at Ubako station (information as of 8 October 2025). The ropeway stops for strong wind, lightning and approaching typhoons. It also stops when volcanic-gas readings rise, a call made from several measuring points. Check Odakyu Hakone's live service status on the day.

Lake Ashi by pirate ship

The Hakone Sightseeing Cruise's pirate ships link Togendai with Hakone-machi and Moto-Hakone in about 25 to 40 minutes. Fares since 1 October 2025:

• Togendai to Moto-Hakone or Hakone-machi: ¥1,700 one way (children ¥850)
• Hakone-machi to Moto-Hakone: ¥600 (children ¥300)
• Return ticket: ¥3,000 (children ¥1,300)

Odakyu Hakone's tip is the broadleaf woods of Kuzuryu no Mori, which appear on the left just after leaving Togendai.

The tourist association calls Moto-Hakone the best spot for autumn colour with Mount Fuji, and says the trees there start turning in early-to-mid November. Onshi-Hakone Park, on the site of a former imperial villa, is free to enter and looks across Lake Ashi to Fuji on clear days.

Hakone Tozan Railway: the slow way up

Opened in 1919, the mountain railway climbs 8.9 km from Hakone-Yumoto to Gora in about 40 minutes. It takes gradients of up to 80‰ and reverses at three switchbacks (Deyama signal stop, Ohiradai station and Kami-Ohiradai signal stop), where the driver and conductor swap ends. Odakyu Hakone highlights the views down into the gorge and the autumn colour from the train windows, including the Deyama iron bridge.

The Hakone-Yumoto–Gora fare is ¥460 (children ¥230). From Gora, the cable car climbs 1.2 km to Sounzan in about 10 minutes for ¥430 (children ¥220), or ¥170 to Koen-kami for the Hakone Museum of Art. In a usual year, the bottom of the line (Yumoto, Tonosawa, Ohiradai) sits in the late-November-to-early-December band and the top (Miyanoshita, Gora) in the mid-to-late-November band. So in a typical year a ride in late November should show colour along most of the climb.

A one-day autumn loop without a car

Odakyu Hakone calls this circuit the "Hakone Golden Course", and the foliage spots line up along it:

1. Hakone-Yumoto → Hakone Tozan Railway → Chokoku-no-Mori (Hakone Open-Air Museum)
2. → Gora → cable car to Koen-shimo (Gora Park) or Koen-kami (Hakone Museum of Art, from 30 October)
3. → Sounzan → ropeway via Owakudani → Togendai
4. → pirate ship to Moto-Hakone or Hakone-machi

On single tickets from Odawara, the loop costs ¥4,900 one way: Odawara–Sounzan ¥1,200, plus the ropeway at ¥2,000 and the ship at ¥1,700. The two-day Hakone Freepass costs ¥6,000 from Odawara or ¥7,100 from Shinjuku (children ¥1,500 / ¥1,600). The three-day pass is ¥6,400 / ¥7,500. It gives unlimited rides on the Tozan Railway, cable car, ropeway, pirate ship and designated Hakone Tozan bus sections, plus free entry to Gora Park. Romancecar express seats cost extra.

Pair the leaves with Hakone's culture

• Tea in a garden teahouse: tea ceremony in Hakone (Gora Park, Hakuun-do)
• A soak after the leaves: onsen day trip in Hakone, Tenzan vs Matsuzakaya Honten
• A craft to take home: yosegi-zaiku wood-mosaic workshop in Hakone
• Can't decide? Hakone cultural experiences compared

Sources (checked 23 September 2026; the Hakone Museum of Art ticket page and tenki.jp rechecked 2 October 2026)

• Hakone Tourist Association: autumn leaves information, Hakone autumn colour by altitude (usual pattern; post updated 25 October 2017)
• Hakone Museum of Art: renovation closure notice (Japanese), Temporary Closure for Renovations (English), hours and fees (Japanese), hours and fees (English), tickets (pre-opening online tickets, Japanese), moss garden, seasons, official homepage
• Hakone Open-Air Museum: visit us (English), access, forest foot bath
• Gora Park: hours and admission, Autumn Rose Garden Concerts 2026, Hakuun-do teahouse, public transport request, autumn sweets at Isshikido Saro, flower calendar
• Odakyu Hakone: Hakone Ropeway, ropeway tickets, Owakudani "Chikyu no Tani", 18 autumn-leaves spots by area, foliage status page, pirate ship, Hakone Tozan Railway, Hakone Freepass
• Weathernews (private forecaster): Gora Park, Hakone Museum of Art, Lake Ashi
• Japan Weather Association, tenki.jp: Hakone Museum of Art foliage page

Update log: 2026-09-23. Written from official information (Hakone Tourist Association, Hakone Museum of Art, Gora Park, Hakone Open-Air Museum, Odakyu Hakone) and Weathernews's forecast as of 3 September.

Update log: 2026-10-02 — added the Hakone Museum of Art's pre-opening admission (online tickets: adults ¥1,000, high-school and university ¥500, junior-high and under free) and tenki.jp's status for the museum (still green; peak forecast late November to early December)