Last updated on April 21st, 2024
The impressive sight of Kurobe Dam is one of the must-visit attractions in Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. We had a good time wandering around during our visit.
At height of 1500 meter, Kurobe Dam (黒部ダム) or Kuroyon Dam (黒四ダム) is the tallest dam (186 m) in Japan. It is built after World War II to generate additional electricity in hydroelectric power. The Kurobe lake behind the dam holds 200 million cubic meters of water. Up to 15 tons of water are spectacularly discharged through the dam. It able to generate one billion kWh per year to the Kansai region.
Kurobe Dam is nearly the end of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. We spend about 2 hours just wandering around the area. It was the season for fall foliage at around Kurobe. The view was so breathtaking with vibrant color of autumn leaves. Although the weather was not so good but the misty fog make for a majestic place.
Read on my Kurome dam blog to give you some idea if you are looking for what to do and eat in the Kurobe dam. Estimate spend time 2 hours in Kurobe dam.
Scenic View Along The Kurobe Pathway
Follow the crowd, we walked through the tunnel once get off from the Kurone cable car. It was about 5 minutes walking journey.
Once out from the tunnel, we were welcomed by the beautiful view. Gosh!!! The view was so spectacular.
The mist added to its beauty and made the Kurobe Dam like a fairyland.
We walked through the pathway and cross the Kurobe lake. It was about 15 minutes of walking journey. But it may take longer as we keep on taking photo along the journey.
We spotted the Kurobe Sightseeing cruises (Garube) which operated on the lake from June to early November. It is one of the best ways to enjoy the scenery of Alps and Lake Kurobe. This highest sailing boat ride (at 1,448 m sea level) took about 30 minutes.
Kurobe Dam
The Kurobe Dam will discharge its high-pressure water from late June to mid-October. You can witness the dam discharging its spectacular amount of water during that time. It’s about 10 tons of water shoot out in every second. You may possible to see the rainbows arching across the plumes of water droplets if you’re lucky.
Unfortunately, on the day we visited, no water was released into the dam. We one week late according to the schedule!
Dam Observation Deck
Located at the eastern end, there is a Dam Observation Deck where you can have the best view of the dam and its surrounding terrain from above.
You need to climb up 280 steep long flight of stairs to see the finest view of the dam. It was a long hard climb. However, it worth the climb just for the amazing view.
You can also choose to go down to see the Monument to Workers. Almost 10 Million workers were worked on the dam for over 7 years. By the time it completed, 171 workers sadly lost their lives during the construction. There is a monument to dedicated the workers who sacrifice their lives on this incredible project.
We didn’t went for this route and only proceeded to upstairs.
It took us some time to climb over the 220 steps up to the Observation Deck. We were rewarded with a beautiful mountain view from Kurobe Dam once on top. All the steps were worth it!
We spend some time admiring the view from the Observation Deck.
There is Kurobe Rest House at the top of the Dam Observation Deck. We took some rest in the rest house. You can also try the Kurobe Dam Curry, a lake of delicious curry behind a dam of rice. But we were too full at that time. So we skipped it.
After we had admired the view at Kurobe Dam, we walked to on the other side of the dam to take the Kanden tunnel electric bus to Ogizawa.
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