Enjoy a hike in the woods
Minoo Park has plenty of nature which is easily accessible from downtown Osaka via a 30-minute train ride from Hankyu Umeda Station to Minoo Station. It is known for the 33m-high Minoo Falls and the autumn foliage. With a large area of 83.8 hectares, the spring has mountain cherries and fresh leaves, there are the cool evenings in summer plus the fall colors which has had the park selected as one of the one hundred parks in Japan to be used for therapeutic walks. Within the park, there are close to 1000 kinds of plants, and if you are lucky, you can even see wild Japanese macaques. From the park entrance to Minoo Falls, there is a 2.4km path alongside the stream where everyone of all ages can enjoy a therapeutic walk through the woods. Aside from the path to the falls, there are a total of 8 kilometers’ worth of trails and at the tourist office by Minoo Station, you can obtain foreign-language maps.
A retro establishment reborn from a pure Japanese-style inn
Along the path to Minoo Falls, there is a retro café-restaurant establishment which was converted from an inn built from the 1960s. While viewing the woods, you can take a short breather at the Hashimoto-tei Café. There is sushi and tea ceremony dishes at Otowa Sanso while at the genuine Italian restaurant of Kajikasou, you can enjoy real Italian cuisine in a place whose exterior and interior have that nostalgic Japanese air. On the path to Minoo Falls, you can try Momiji tempura, a traditional dessert consisting of maple leaves deep-fried in batter, which continues on a 1300-year-old tradition, and you can get souvenirs which use the special yuzu of Minoo. Only in summer, the river bottom is exposed alongside the stream and you can enjoy a meal while viewing the stream (reservations needed). In front of Minoo Station, there is an onsen facility known as the Minoo Onsen Spa Garden where you can even enjoy a day trip for a hot bath. The excellent quality of the hot springs is such that the facility has been authorized as a recuperative onsen, and it is popular as a bath for beauty due to its hydrogen carbonate springs.