Day trip: Hike Mt. Hakken and Koganeyu onsen

Peak elevation: 498m
Time to hike: ~1.5 hours (50 minutes up, 30 minutes down)

Transportation: From Sapporo Station bus terminal platform 12, take bus number 7 going to Jozankei Onsen.

Access map at bottom of post.

Hakkenzan (八剣山) is an easily accessible mountain in southern Sapporo. It is very popular as it is a quick hike up and down, though the trail is narrow with steep drop-offs in some places (the summit is also very narrow), so it is best to be careful while hiking.

It was originally called Kannoniwa-yama (and is still labeled as such on Google Maps at the time of this post), but was renamed to Hakkenzan (lit. Eight Swords Mountain) due to its appearance.

Nearby amenities include a winery and several restaurants near the central trailhead, as well as a cafe and sweets shop near the west trailhead. You can also:

Go horseback riding
Go strawberry picking (Sakuraino Orchard, seasonal)
Go cherry picking
Have a BBQ
Go fishing (500 yen, end of April through October)
Go rafting on the Toyohira River (豊平川)

For hiking Hakkenzan, I recommend going up from the central trailhead and down out the west trailhead (that is what I did), but you can choose any combination you would like as the entrances are not far from one another. The central entrance is certainly the most trafficked.