Twenty minute drive from Tsuruoka Park, the Yutagawa Hot Spring area boasts a splendid display of ‘Japanese apricot’ and ‘bamboo’ in spring. There are around 300 red and white Japanese apricots that bloom profusely in the recess of Mt Kimbo, as if they are looking down on the spa town of Yutagawa. Between late March and early May, the Japanese apricot festival is held and an open air tea-ceremony is performed on the weekend when blooming is at its peak. This park, which is surrounded by bamboo groves and is famous for its beauty, will delight visitors with not only Japanese apricots, but also with peony, azalea, iris and narcissus. The great natural environment with a high quality of mineral water at Yutagawa Hot Springs won official title of “National recuperation spa town” in 2001 from the Ministry of Environment, in fact as well as in name.
[Access] From Tsuruoka Station, 20 minutes by bus on the Yutagawa Hot Springs route