If you’re craving a peaceful nature escape from the buzz of Osaka, Minoh Park makes for a perfect day trip – one that’s easy, scenic and surprisingly under the radar. Just 45 minutes from the city by train, this lush pocket of forest feels worlds away from the neon chaos and crowds of Dotonbori.
Think leafy tree-lined walking trails, an impressive waterfall, the odd monkey sighting, and old-school food stalls tucked into the hillside fringing the river. It’s the kind of outing that doesn’t require too much planning, but will leave you feeling relaxed, renewed and having the feeling of discovering something special.
On our recent Japan trip, we paired a visit to Minoh Park with a stop at the colourful, quirky Katsuo-ji Temple, home to thousands of lucky daruma dolls scattered around a beautiful temple nestled into the forest.
In this post, I’m sharing our exact route, including how to get there, what to expect along the trail, and tips to help you plan your own relaxing getaway from the city.
Note: Minoh Park is also interchangeably referred to as Minoo Park, but I will stick to Minoh Park in this article – but they are the same place, in case you are wondering!
When to Visit
While Minoh Park is most visited during autumn when the maple leaf trees turn a stunning, vibrant array of red and amber hues, you can easily do this trip all year round.
When visiting in May 2025, we got a taste of early summer with a warm 28 degrees Celsius day with barely a cloud in the sky. The scenery was incredibly lush, and the waterfall was in full flow. Luckily, most of the hiking path leading to Minoh Falls is shaded, which provided some much-needed relief from the hot day.
How to Get There
It’s very straightforward to get to Minoh Park, much more so than the nearby Katsuoji Temple.
From downtown Osaka, hop aboard the red Midosuji line to Umeda Station. From here, change to the brown Takarazuka Main Line operated by Hankyu. At Ishibashi Handai-Mae station, transfer to the Hankyu-Mino Line and travel on to your destination, Hankyu Minoh Station.
From Minoh station, you will almost immediately begin the uphill walk towards the falls, following alongside the Mino River.
It’s a 2.7 km one-way walk from Minoh Station to Minoh Waterfall. The trail is paved the entire way, and is a gentle but steady uphill incline. On the way to the falls, there are several sights worth seeing and some food stops along the way.
Oh, and did I mention – it’s free to visit Minoh Park and Minoh Falls!
Minoh Park Insect Museum
We passed the insectarium and decided on a whim to purchase tickets to explore inside, and I’m so glad we did!
I’m not exactly a huge insect fan per se, but wandering through the exhibits of various insects, beetles, bugs, and colourful butterflies was interesting. The highlight, though, was the butterfly house at the end of the museum, with hundreds of colourful butterflies to be spotted in the giant greenhouse.
I wouldn’t say it’s an absolute must-do, but we both enjoyed our visit and the tickets were very affordable.
- Open 10:00 – 17:00 daily, closed Tuesdays
- Tickets: 280 yen (visitors over 16 years old), free for under 16
Ryuan-ji Temple
There’s a surprisingly extensive temple complex that you will pass at about the halfway mark to the falls.
There are some great photo spots here, from the bright red bridge to the upper level with its hallway of maple trees leading to the grand main hall. The temple and grounds are free to visit.
Observation Deck
Shortly after passing Ryuan-ji Temple, there’s a turn off uphill that leads to an observation deck, which is meant to offer some pretty neat views of the town below.
We skipped this as we’d already spent the morning wandering around Katsuo-ji Temple, which had a lot of stairs, but here’s the Google Maps pin location if you’re up for making the short but steep detour.
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Keep an Eye Out for Monkeys
You’ll come across warning signs placed around the trail, informing visitors not to feed or approach the monkeys. They are Japanese macaques, the same type as the famous Nagano Snow Monkeys and those at the Iwatayama Monkey Park in Kyoto.
On one less urbanised part of the trail, we heard a big rustling in the bushes and, lo and behold, out popped a rather big monkey. He gave us onlookers a few stares, but continued to forage around in the bushes happily. A pretty cool encounter, I’d say!
Food Stalls and Cafes
Part of the charm of the trail to Minoh Falls is the retro stalls lining sections of the pathway, selling drinks and local snacks such as roasted sweet potato, roasted fish and momiji tempura – deep-fried maple leaves.
You’ll find these scattered along the trail at intermittent sections, and also a few at Minoh Falls. When we visited on a Friday in late May, many of these weren’t open, but there were still options if you needed a refreshment or snack.
We also passed a few cafes and a restaurant lining the river, all of which offered a very charming and relaxed vibe. The menus we saw were all in Japanese – another good reason to make sure you have internet access while travelling in Japan so you can use Google Translate to help decipher the menu offerings!
Minoh Falls
After winding your way uphill, following the bends and turns of the gushing river and walking below the verdant green maple trees, you’ll catch a glimpse of a bright red bridge ahead, and the spectacular 33-metre high Minoh Falls just past it.
You’ll find a few food and snack stalls serving ice cream, drinks and even roasted fish skewers (unfortunately closed when we visited!), and a few benches in front of the falls to sit, eat and admire the view.
The public bathrooms across the bridge looked like something out of a Studio Ghibli movie – looking very magical in the dappled light of the maple trees.
How to Combine a Visit to Minoh Falls and Katsuo-ji Temple
Until early 2025, there was a tourist bus that offered a convenient route stopping at Hankyu Minoh Station, Minoh Falls, Katsuo-ji Temple and back to Minoh Station.
When searching for my trip in May 2025, the bus service had stopped with no replacement – it seemed most people were choosing to get a taxi or walk along the very steep and winding road to navigate the 3.5 km between Minoh Falls and Katsuo-ji Temple.
We decided to plan a day trip where we would start from Minoh Kayano Station, catching Bus 30 to Katsuo-ji Temple. After spending an hour or two exploring the extensive temple grounds, we then easily caught a taxi from the taxi stand outside the temple to Minoh Falls (10 minutes, 1300 Yen).
Read my step-by-step guide on exactly how to get to Katsuo-ji Temple from Osaka here.
I’m glad we decided to taxi and not walk – there is no dedicated walking path, so we passed many groups walking on the road, which was quite windy and steep going uphill towards Katsuo-ji Temple.
The taxi driver dropped us at the Minoh Falls Parking Lot, which was then a 10-minute downhill walk to reach the falls and the walking trail down towards Hankyu Minoh Station.
Here’s my map showing the exact route we took.
I recommend starting at Katsuo-ji Temple.
We found there were a few taxis waiting at the taxi stand, so we didn’t need to worry about calling a taxi (I planned to use the Uber app to do this if we needed to), and it meant that when walking from Minoh Falls, it was all downhill toward Minoh Station.
You can take this day trip in reverse, but just note that you will be walking uphill towards Minoh Falls (it’s not too steep, but it is a steady, gentle uphill incline). There is no taxi stand at Minoh Falls, so be prepared to use Uber or the GoTaxi app to call for a taxi to pick you up.
While it’s very possible to do this day trip self-guided using public transport as I’ve recommended above, If you’d prefer the convenience of a local guide with all transportation included, check out this guided tour option.
Tip: Grab some snacks from 7/11 at the start of the day in case you find that on the day, like us, that many of the food stalls at Minoh Park are closed when visiting mid-week.
Final Thoughts
My itinerary above covers a full-day trip, so we were happy to jump straight on the train and head back to Osaka to have a ramen feast for an early dinner after clocking up many steps from walking all day!
I had saved Minoh Beer Warehouse in my maps, which looks like a great spot to grab a late lunch or early dinner and sample some of the award-winning local beer directly from the brewpub. It’s an easy walk or one train stop away from Hankyu Minoh Station.
All in all, our day trip to Minoh Park and Katsuo-ji Temple was a highlight of our most recent trip to Japan. It’s true that travelling to Japan is even busier than ever, thanks to the tourism boom, but I found our stroll through Minoh Park and exploring the falls to be very relaxing and a bit of a hidden gem from the mainstream Western tourist trail.
There were noticeably more foreign visitors at Katsuo-ji Temple; however, it was still miles away from the hustle and bustle of Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi, providing a tranquil nature escape less than an hour from Osaka. For more waterfall adventures, consider hiking the iconic Nakasendo trail – we did it on an easy day trip from Nagoya.
If you enjoyed this article, make sure to check out my other travel guides around Osaka, Kyoto and further beyond in Japan.
Osaka & Kyoto Guides:
- An Exciting 4 Days in Osaka Itinerary for First-Timers
- How to Visit Katsuoji Temple on a Day Trip from Osaka
- The Perfect 3 Day Kyoto Itinerary: How to Avoid the Crowds
- What to Expect from a Koyasan Temple Stay
More Japan Itineraries:
- A Fun 7 Day Tokyo Itinerary: Complete 1 Week in Tokyo Guide
- Exploring Fuji Five Lakes: 3 Days in Kawaguchiko Guide
- Takayama Itinerary: 2 Days Discovering Traditional Japan
- A Perfect 4 Weeks in Japan Itinerary: Ultimate Travel Guide
- How to Easily Visit the Chureito Pagoda from Tokyo
Japan Travel Planning Essentials, Tips & Tricks:
- How to Plan a Trip to Japan: Ultimate Japan Travel Guide
- Is Japan Expensive? My EXACT Japan Trip Cost Breakdown Revealed
- 30 Unmissable Experiences for Your Japan Bucket List
- 15 Essential Things to Know Before Visiting Japan for the First Time
- Cool Stuff to Buy in Japan: 20 Souvenirs Actually Worth Buying
I just wanted to say thanks for writing this guide. I followed your directions to do a combined visit to Katsuoji and Minoh Falls today and it worked perfectly! The tip about bringing your own snacks was especially useful.
Thanks! Glad to hear you had a great day out. What was it like in winter?
Thankyou for writing this great guide about one of my favorite places, it’s great you were able to meet a monkey too – that’s kind of rare these days!
I live nearby, and actually started a small bike tour business, Minoh Cycles, as a way to see Katsuoji and the falls in one morning, while getting active and experiencing the amazing views over the city you only get by going on the roads.
If you come back any time, let me know and I’ll happy take you for a ride up there.