A trip down Hidaka

Some days ago I went to Obihiro for an archery competition. Of course that usually doesn't involve a trip down Hidaka,which is quite a detour from the shortest and second shortest route from Sapporo to Obihiro. And Hidaka always being a detour has been the exact reason I never been there: I don't see a lot of destinations there for me. Cape Erimo is a good cape but its potential glory of being the southern tip was nullified by the whole Hakodate part of Hokkaido; lots of horse ranches along the coastline, which surely are destinations for those who are interested in racehorses, while I have as much interest in that as in watching paint dry - well maybe less than watching paint dry.

All that said, I do have a lot of interest in covering distances and just going to places I've never been to. I like how the underpopulated areas of a relatively more developed state can offer decent infrastructure without offering the mind-numbing dense of people.

Also sadly I didn't really got to Cape Erimo, so that's reserved me a future reason of going down this route again.

An introduction of the Hidaka region

The Hidaka region, or what I am referreing to, is basically the coastline starting from the eastern tip of Tomakomai until Cape Erimo. This probably differs from the official Hidaka Subprefecture (振興局) definition or some of the former administrative divisions, but I'm not the kind of person that gets sleepless over that.

Of course, the Hidaka Mountains are part of this region, too, quite apparently if you look at the name. But I didn't really have the time for mountain adventures, and roads in Hidaka are pathetically sparse.

There is National Route 235 that is essentially the only main road for all the settlements and areas it goes through; a free motorway section of Hidaka Expressway (E63), providing a faster alternative for R235 from Tomakomai until Niikappu; Nat Route 237 that branches from the old Monbetsu part of the now two-piece Hidaka Town, going up northeast to connect with the other part of Hidaka Town and Shimukappu; Nat Routes 236 and 336 that provide a little more variety at the east end of R235.

There are also Prefectural Routes (quite charmingly abbreviated 道道 in Japanese) that goes alongside R235, the most impressive for me being Pref Route 1025 which is a more elevated and mountaneous option, which stays in parallel with R235 most of the time (parallel if you disregard all the twists and turns due to the mountain terrain). I actually quite like these roads as they are of less transportation importance, and usually has significantly less cars than the main road, and obviously few to none patrol vehicles. If I ever bother going to Hidaka again without a tight schedule some time, I'd definitely go that way instead of the literally coastline R235.

Getting started

I consider Tomakomai to be the western gateway of Hidaka. The port and industrial city itself is usually not considered part of Hidaka, but it is probably the closest thing to a regional centre metropolis one could find around west Hidaka.

Besides, the Hidaka Expressway starts at Tomakomai East Interchange.

Getting to Tomakomai is usually easy.

Seaside

Albeit only several days ago, my memories of the seaside drive remains in fragments now. Or more probably that is how my brain works, all the time.

Leaving Hidaka and realising it really is something else

I chose to split up north as soon as Route 236 gave me the option to do so. I was not that excited about Cape Erimo, and fatigue was racking up, and it was already over 13:00