Nonaka Onsen

Mt. Meakan makes for a nice day hike. There are several courses, and this is the simplest. Park your car at the trailhead 50 m SW of Nonoka Onsen. The trail starts 50 m NE of Nonoka Onsen. The trail goes up and around the back side of the volcanic mountain. On a clear day, there are good views of a pond inside the crater, but this can be covered by steam or clouds. From near the top, a side trail leads to Akan Fuji (阿寒富士). The loop continues downhill to Onneto (オンネトー), where you can walk along the road or around the lake to get back to the parking lot. This 8-km hike takes 5 hours at a casual speed..

The best-known of the trio, largely thanks to mysterious fuzzy green algae balls known as "marimo", which you can view at the free visitor's center. There is also a small Ainu museum and lacklustre dance performances in the village of Ainu Kotan.

Also a caldera lake, but a bit livelier than the others as the volcanic peak of Mt. Wakoto (和琴山 Wakoto-san, 266m), jutting out from the southern shore, still bubbles, hisses (and stinks) with geothermal activity. An easy trail runs around the island. Good swimming in the summertime.

Literally "Sulphur Mountain", which is a fairly good hint of what you will see and smell if you go poke around the hells (jigoku). It is also called "Atosanupuri" by the Ainu (indigenous people of the Nord of Japan and nearby Russia).