I visit Fushimi Inari Taisha at least once a year. Despite its’ crowds, I still find it to be a beautiful spot. And once you go up the mountain a little ways, the crowds quickly disappear behind you so you can enjoy the quiet of the shrine.

This past spring, I decided to hike up Mt. Inari with a couple of friends. We started off the same way most did–walking under the bright torii gates. But it wasn’t long before we got tired of the press of people (we went on a weekend) so we looked around for an exit. Lo and behold, to the right of the main path was a marked hiking trail that said, “Mt. Inari.” We gladly escaped, and had ourselves a little adventure.

After all, while you can have a lovely time following the torii gates up the mountain, you can also explore a few side-trails instead and discover parts of the shrine you might not otherwise have even noticed.

For today’s post, I’d like to share a couple photos of the things we saw that day. I hope you enjoy!

First, the view from our path above the torii gates. You can see that it was quite busy that day!

It was still very much cherry blossom season, so we got to enjoy some spring sakura during our hike.

We also stumbled across a residential area on the side of the mountain, which included a beautiful bamboo grove. There was almost nobody else around, so we thought we might have walked up the wrong path. We pressed on, however, and were glad we did; we soon found a trail marker that reassured us that we were going the right way.

Along the way, we found other shrines in addition to Fushimi Inari, including this giant stone. The signs were all in Japanese at this point, and the path was completely quiet save for us and one other woman walking around.

As we neared the summit, we spotted one of the torii gates. It had been a while since we’d walked under one, so we were glad to see something familiar. Especially as, during our walk, we’d been seeing a large number of warning signs posted for bears and boars!

I know a lot of people want to get the shot of the torii gates at the foot of the mountain, but I encourage you to go up to the top, if you’re able to do so. You not only get some lovely views of the city, but you also get a chance to snap photos without a hundred other folks in the shot!

Have you been to Fushimi Inari Shrine? If so, what did you think of it? Are you someone who likes to get there at dawn to avoid crowds, or do you just grit your teeth and push through all the people?