Three Hokkaido Trips: Routes and Lodging from My SR400, Car, and XSR900 Tours

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I've been to Hokkaido three times: twice by motorcycle, once by car. The destinations and styles were different each time, but they share one feeling — vastness. Straight roads you don't get on the main island, sunsets you don't get on the main island, a quiet you don't get on the main island.

This page collects the routes, lodging, and standout spots from all three trips, so anyone planning their own Hokkaido trip can use it to sketch out a route.

Note: the day-by-day chapters for some trips are still being translated. For now, links to those chapters lead to the Japanese version of the article — feel free to read in Japanese, or check back as translations are added.

Hokkaido Route Map (all three trips)

The routes from all three trips are overlaid on the Hokkaido map below. Click or tap a line to jump to that trip's section.

SR400 Solo Tour (2021, Northern Hokkaido) Solo Drive by Car (2022, Southern Hokkaido) XSR900 8 Days (2025, Eastern–Northern Loop)

The Three Trips at a Glance

① SR400 Solo Tour — Esanuka Line, Northern Hokkaido
② Solo Drive by Car — Cape Kamui, Hakodate, Southern Hokkaido
③ XSR900 8-Day Tour — From Ōarai, looping the East and North

① SR400 Solo Tour — Northern Hokkaido and the Esanuka Line

🏍 SR400 📅 June 18–24, 2021 🛣 Distance: ~954 km 📆 6 nights / 7 days (incl. round-trip ferry)

The record of taking my SR400 to Hokkaido. The Esanuka Line moved me almost to tears — empty straight road stretching as far as you can see. In Monbetsu, on a mountain road heading to the Okhotsk Sky Tower at dusk, I came face-to-face with a Higuma (Hokkaido brown bear).

Northern Hokkaido was ridden along Route 232 (the Ororon Line), heading north through Rumoi, Obira, Tomamae, and Haboro. Past Teshio, I picked up Prefectural Road 106 (Wakkanai–Teshio Line), the famously power-pole-free single road across the Sarobetsu Plain (the so-called "longest straight road in Japan"), with the Sea of Japan on my left, all the way to Wakkanai. I doubled back and detoured constantly, but mostly stayed on the coast. From Wakkanai I went via Cape Noshappu, looped the western coast, and pushed on to Cape Sōya.

📍 Open route in Google Maps (Ōarai → Sapporo → Ororon Line → Wakkanai → Cape Noshappu → Cape Sōya → Esanuka Line → Monbetsu → Biei → Furano → Ōarai)

Day-by-day Records

Day 1: Ōarai → Sapporo Day 2: Sapporo → Wakkanai Day 3: Cape Sōya, Esanuka Line, Monbetsu — bear encounter Day 4: Monbetsu → Biei Day 5: Furano → Tomakomai → Ōarai

Lodging

Day 1Hotel Livemax Sapporo Ekimae / Sapporo (the previous night was on the Ōarai → Tomakomai ferry)
Day 2Onsen Minshuku Kita-no-Yado / Fujimi, Wakkanai
Day 3Monbetsu Prince Hotel / Monbetsu
Day 4Hotel Lavenir / Biei (next to Roadside Station Biei "Oka-no-kura")
Day 5Tomakomai → Ōarai ferry (Sunflower)

Main Stops and Sights

Sapporo: Former Hokkaido Government Office (Red Brick), Ramen Ichiryūan
Ishikari: Roadside Station "Airoad Atsuta"
Ororon Line: Wind-turbine clusters, Otonrui Wind Farm, the long coastal straightaway
Wakkanai: Wakkanai Port North Breakwater Dome, Wakkanai Station (Japan's northernmost railway), Cape Noshappu (reached by riding the western coast)
Sōya: Shiroi-michi (White Road), Sōya Hills, Cape Sōya (Japan's northernmost point)
Sarufutsu Village: Esanuka Line
Esashi Town: Usutaibe Senjōiwa
Monbetsu: Crab Claw Monument, Okhotsk Sky Tower, Bear Park
Kamifurano: Saerubu-no-oka
Biei: Blue Pond, Ken & Mary Tree, Seven Star Tree, Patchwork Road, Roller-Coaster Road
Furano: Farm Tomita (lavender fields)

Trip Highlights

Cape Sōya, the northernmost point of Japan, with SR400 and self — Cape Sōya — Japan's northernmost point

Monbetsu Crab Claw Monument with SR400 — Monbetsu Crab Claw Monument

Wakkanai Port North Breakwater Dome — Wakkanai Breakwater Dome

Ken & Mary Tree at sunset — Ken & Mary Tree (Biei)

② Solo Drive by Car — Southern Hokkaido, Cape Kamui, Hakodate

🚗 Rental car from Hakodate (arrived by Shinkansen) 📅 August 25–28, 2022 📆 3 nights / 4 days

From August 25 to 28, 2022, I took the Shinkansen to Hakodate, picked up a rental car, and drove the southern part of Hokkaido and the Shakotan Peninsula across 3 nights and 4 days. Cape Kamui's blue water, the star shape of Goryōkaku, the seafood at the Hakodate Morning Market, the night view from Mt. Hakodate. Unlike the bike, you don't have to worry about luggage — different freedom.

On Day 3, the Otaru → Cape Kamui → Hakodate stretch went west along the eastern coast of the Shakotan Peninsula via Yoichi, Bikuni, and Cape Kamui. From Cape Kamui I dropped down the western coast of the peninsula on Route 229 as far as Suttsu, hugging the Sea of Japan. From Suttsu I cut inland on Route 5 (Kuromatsunai → Oshamambe → Yakumo) back to Hakodate. Half coast, half inland.

📍 Open route in Google Maps (Day 1 evening: arrive Hakodate, Mt. Hakodate night view → Day 2: Mt. Yōtei, Nikka Yoichi, Otaru → Day 3: Bikuni, Cape Kamui → south on Route 229, then inland on Route 5 from Suttsu → back to Hakodate → Day 4: Hakodate Morning Market, Goryōkaku → depart Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto)