Lush Loki Cave and Canyon in Kochi
Loki Cave, and the canyon beyond the cave, is a super nice walk where you can see bats, lots of green ferns, bamboo, vines, moss, waterfalls, and crystal clear water.
The cave itself is only 40 meters long. After the cave section, there is a superb fern canyon that is roughly 360 meters long which leads to a beautiful waterfall. This makes the total length an 800-meter walk. It can take just 20-30 minutes but I would allow an hour for the walk to search for fossils, bats, and snakes. Also, watch out for snakes.
It’s located in Aki, just north of Kochi City, feels particularly special in Japan because of the uniqueness of walking through the stream, through the 5m+ high by 3m+ wide Loki Cave, and the wonderfully lush fern-covered canyon. It is also incredibly easy to access from the street.
The starting point is on Route 55 - where there’s a mini Kochi Information Center just a 5-minute walk from the Loki Station on the Gomen Nahari Line. There’s a Family Mart basically next door (I decided to visit there first and prepare myself with ice cream to enhance my cave walking experience).
At the mini Information Center, you will find a lot of free-to-borrow boots in a range of sizes to enjoy walking upstream through Loki Cave. How kind! To lend people boots to walk through the cave for free. I personally really appreciate that in this day of charging money for everything.
Grab a pair of boots and cross Route 55 and follow the small stream on your right side. Notice the cherry blossoms along the stream, always beautiful no matter the season, and eventually, you will see an obvious entrance to Loki Cave.
If you’re still wearing shoes it’s time to change and then hit the stream. My “Australian-raised” tip - stuff your socks into your shoes and don’t forget to check for spiders when you get back. Japan has other interesting insects too :)
Now is the time to go through the awesome cave. LOOK UP! You will spot bats, especially if you remembered to bring a headlamp ;) There are quite a few species living in the area so you might get lucky spotting a few different kinds of black shadows.
The whole experience is free! Make sure to bring a water bottle, and headlamp for bat searching, pants might be a good idea depending on the season. I feel like this could be a good spot for leeches in summer :’)
If it wasn’t for the free boots it would get tricky walking through water in any kind of hiking shoes. Personally, I would have just gone barefoot and a pair of flip-flops for the dry sections.
If you did bring a headlamp or flashlight, look carefully at the walls and you might be able to find a fossilized shell embedded on the walls.
As you come out the other side of Loki Cave you’re going to be in awe of the huge canyon walls! Turn the next corner you are in lush green ferns and moss. I read that there are over 40 different types of ferns in the canyon and you can see these covering the rock faces from top to bottom. These ferns alone made this canyon a National Natural Monument in 1915.
Look up again to watch the beautiful leaves falling in the gentle wind. Apparently, there is a constant light 20 degrees Celsius breeze through the canyon and cave all year round. This would be one of the key factors that keep the green stuff so green.
The turnaround point will be a beautiful waterfall you’ll notice before the path leads up the right. It is possible to keep going further along that path but I did that and felt it didn’t add too much to the wow factor compared to the canyon experience.
There’s a slightly alternative way back that gives a nice view but I liked the Loki Cave so much that I went back the same way. If you have time you could easily do both.
When you return the boots please remember to wash them in the sink with the brush provided.
Happy Kochi travels!
