In October 2020, I went to Tokachi Obihiro to see the autumn leaves in Hokkaido.
Tokachi, as it is called "Food Valley," is a place of ranches (mainly cattle) and agricultural fields, so I visited two places in the suburbs while feeling the vastness of the land with a rental car.
First, we went to see the rows of white birch trees at the "Tokachi Farm of the National Livestock Breeding Center" in Otosara Town, north of Obihiro City, which is always in the guidebooks of Tokachi.
National Livestock Breeding Center, Tokachi Farm
Address : 8-1, Komaba-Namiki, Ondo-cho, Kawagoe-gun, Hokkaido
Access : About 40 minutes from Obihiro Station by rental car. From Obihiro Airport, about 1 hour and 30 minutes by ordinary road only (when using Route 241, it is faster to use the bypass side from Kashiwarindai).
Tokachi Farm is not a tourist farm and does not sell souvenirs or dairy products, but the rows of white birch trees used in TV dramas and the observation deck are open to the public free of charge.
(Birches lining the street)
There was also an observatory, but on this day, I took pictures at the rows of white birch trees.
The serial TV novel "Natsu Sora" is set in Tokachi Obihiro, and I wonder if this kind of scenery appeared in the show (I did not watch it myself).
There is a parking space near the entrance to the rows of white birch trees, so several other groups besides us parked there and took pictures.
It takes about 40 minutes by car from Tokachi Farm to Naitai Terrace, but the red berries of the nanakamado trees, which do not grow tall in Honshu, and the sight of the expansive ranchland gave me a sense of the vastness of Hokkaido.
Naitai Terrace
Address ：128-5, Aza-Kamiondori, Kamishihoro Town, Kawato-gun, Hokkaido
Open Period ：April 29-November 1
Gate open hours: 7:00-18:00 (June-September, 7:00-19:00)
Opening hours of Naitai Terrace: 9:00-17:00
Naitai Terrace will be a new observation facility opened in June 2019 on the driving road of Naitai Kogen Ranch.
Naitai Kogen Ranch (the largest public ranch in Japan with an area of approximately 1,700 hectares) was completed in 1972, and cattle (approximately 2,000 head) entrusted from within and outside the town are grazed within Naitai Kogen Ranch.
The driving road, about 7 km from the entrance gate to 800 m elevation, is a sightseeing spot in itself, where you can stop your car and take pictures along the way.
(Entrance to the building)
Naitai Terrace is built as a building with a fashionable atmosphere on the high ground of the ranch using the foot of the mountain.
(Sales space)
Naitai Terrace has a cafe with a view and a space for selling souvenirs.
Products made from Naitai Wagyu (beef), a specialty of Kamishihoro, milk jam, honey, etc. are sold here.
The only places to buy souvenirs in Kamishihoro are Michi no Eki and Naitai Terrace, so a place where you can see all the souvenirs at once may be valuable.
(Eating and drinking space at the cafe)
The observatory café serves soft ice cream (with excellent flavor naming: white, black, and cow), Naitai blend coffee, and hamburgers made with Naitai wagyu beef.
On the day of our visit, we arrived around 4:00 p.m., so the cafe itself only sold soft ice cream and drinks.
When we visited, we had to purchase meal tickets in cash, so we could not use cashless payment such as credit cards.
（View from NaiTai Terrace)
You can see the Naitai Kogen Farm from the observation cafe.
Because the grass had already been cut and it was evening, there were no cows, but we were able to see the vast expanse of land with soft ice cream.
Cows were grouped opposite the gate entrance of the Naitai Kogen Pasture, so it might have been the time for them to rush back home.
(Panoramic photo from the observatory)
There is a viewing spot outside, but it was cold with a sprinkling of snow.
The view from the hilltop confirms that the earth is round.
When I went to Sapporo on a trip, I happened to visit Naitai Kogen Ranch, which is not a major tourist attraction.
However, it was a different experience from Furano and Biei in the sense that I could see the vastness of Hokkaido.
