UFO Line / Ishizuchi Skyline

Cycling along the UFO Line and Ishizuchi Sky Line in Kochi Prefecture offers a breathtaking ride through some of Shikoku’s most stunning mountain landscapes. These high-altitude roads wind along the ridges of the Ishizuchi Mountain Range, providing dramatic views of deep valleys, rolling peaks, and, on clear days, the Seto Inland Sea in the distance.

The climbs are long and challenging, but the rewards are worth it—riders will experience quiet, open roads, fresh mountain air, and panoramic vistas at nearly every turn. The UFO Line, in particular, follows a narrow ridgeline at over 1,300 meters, making it one of Japan’s most scenic cycling routes. For those seeking an unforgettable mountain ride, these routes offer both beauty and adventure in equal measure.

Route

The UFO Line is officially known as the (瓶ケ森線, Kanegamori Line) meaning Bottle in the Sky. It is basically one big hill and climbs from a base of 500m above sea level to a peak over 1500m. It’s a long way up but the scenery along the ridge line are spectacular

The Route offers a wide variety of scenery above the tree line offering spectacular scenery. However, the climb to get there is over 1000 vertical meters from each of the entrances

One thing to note is that the Ishizuchi Skyline is on the South side of Mt. Ishizuchi and does not go the Ishizuchi cable car to climb the mountain which is on the North side of the mountain.

Winter Closure

Due to the high altitude and difficultly of clearing snow. The Ufo line and Ishizuchi Skyline are closed each winter.

The UFO line is typically closed from Mid November to Mid April and the Ishizuchi Skyline is typically closed from from Dec 1 to Mar 31st of each year.

See each of the links below for the specific dates for the year

Ino Town’s official road closure Information Page (Japanese Only)
Ehime Prefectures official road closure information page (Japanese Only)

Things to Do

Easy Hiking

Easy walks off the road give even better views of the scenery

There are some easy to access walking trails right off the road making for some good walks off the bike. Not having to focus on the road ahead and traffic makes it easier to enjoy the scenery

Fall Colours

The fall colours of the Ishizuchi Skyline can be spectacular especially when paired with the backdrop of Mt. Ishizuchi. The colours move from top to bottom through the month of October

Staying

While the UFO line can be done as a day-trip from one of the lower altitude cities like Saijo. If doing the UFO line as a longer tour there are several lodging options mostly in the form of mountain-hut style accomodation. Japanese mountain huts (山荘) will almost always still over 2-meal accomodation however the sleeping arrangment may be in a shared room. This varies from hut to hut so do check if that’s important. It’s fairly rare for mountain huts to have baths though.

Getting there and away

Neither end of the UFO line is particularly near any railway stations so it can take some time to get to the base of the climb if arriving by train.

North

The Northern has two entrances, one on either side of the massive Kanpu Tunnel. The Kanpu tunnel is a 6.3km tunnel that goes uphill from West to East. Consequnetly, the Western entrance (the one on the route above) is significantly lower than the one on the East.

It’s about a 40km ride up from Iyo-Saijo station which has hourly limited express service to Okayama making it relatively easy to access from anywhere in Japan via the Sanyo/Tokkaido Shinkansen.

Limited Express Shiokaze next to the ocean — Limited Express Shiokaze provides access from Okayama on the Sanyo Shinkansen

South

The southern entrance is right of National Route 494 which is also about 40km to Matsuyama making it a bit more difficult to access. However, for those doing longer rides, the South end has good access towards Kochi and Cape Ashizuri.

UFO Line / Ishizuchi Skyline