Visit Hokkaido: Noboribetsu Bear Park

The bears are ready for you to feed them!

On our first trip to Sapporo, we spent one night in Noboribetsu -  a small town renowned for its natural hot springs. We would be spending most of our time at the hotel and the neighboring Jigokudani hell valley, but we had some free time the morning before heading back to Sapporo. 

One of the popular activities is the Noboribetsu Bear Park. Located atop of “Bear Mountain” in the Lake Kuttara area, the park is accessible via a scenic ropeway ride. The park is home to over sixty Hokkaido brown bears. The highlight of our trip was feeding the bears with special bear cookies available for purchase. It was so fun tossing the treats to the bears and watching them catch it.  

The bear park is also home to the world’s only Brown Bear Museum, established in 1958, and Yukara-no-Sato, a recreated Ainu village. 

First enclosure where we tossed the bear cookies,

The kids looking into the cub enclosure.

Several of the cubs playing around.

The kids taking a closer look at Lake Kuttara.

Fun ropeway ride is included in the admission to the Bear Park.

For more information, visit their site.