Hiroshima: Best Hikes Nearby
Hiroshima itself is a flat delta city, so proper hiking here means getting out to Miyajima or a little further afield. Here’s what’s actually worth lacing up boots for.
Mount Misen, Miyajima
The obvious pick, and for good reason. A ropeway carries most of the elevation gain, leaving a roughly 30-minute hike to the 535-metre summit, with sweeping views over the Seto Inland Sea’s islands in every direction. If you’d rather skip the ropeway, a hiking trail runs from near the base up to the summit; it’s steeper and takes considerably longer, but it passes through genuinely quiet forest that the ropeway crowd never sees. Either way, budget the rest of the day for the shrine and the town below, this isn’t a hike you do in isolation from the rest of Miyajima.
Sandankyō Gorge
A 16-kilometre ravine designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty, fed by a tributary of the Ōta River, with a series of waterfalls along its length and strong autumn color. It’s further out than Miyajima and sits outside most short Hiroshima itineraries, so treat it as a dedicated day trip rather than an add-on, and check current trail conditions before you go, since parts of the gorge can close seasonally.
Onomichi’s temple walk and Senkōji Hill
This is more a walk than a hike in the strict sense, but it earns a place here anyway. Onomichi’s hillside temple route connects roughly 25 temples across the upper town, and a ropeway to the top of Senkōji Hill gives you a starting point and panoramic views over the narrow Onomichi Channel below, with a walking descent back down through the old town’s alleys. It’s a genuinely good half-day of climbing and stairs even if it isn’t a wilderness trail.
What to skip
Be wary of older guides that list hiking areas around Hiroshima that actually sit in neighboring prefectures. Some of the western Chūgoku region’s better-known peaks are a significant additional rail trip from the city, not a Hiroshima day trip, so check the actual distance before building a plan around a name that sounds local.
For everything else worth seeing in the same direction as these trails, see our nature spots guide , and for how to fit a full Miyajima day around the Misen hike, our day trips guide .