Hakone Park Volunteers
The approximately 80 official Park Volunteers at Hakone are all seasoned experts on the area. They each make local inspection tours monthly or bimonthly to observe places such as the vicinity of the Visitor Center, Lake Ashi, and Owakudani, surveying the surroundings and noting what plants and animals they see.
The volunteers’ reports of these tours, posted on the wall at the Center, offer valuable information for preparing for a hike or other outdoor activity in the park. Updated throughout the year, the reports record which flowers are blooming, which birds are nesting, and other information of note.
Hakone’s park volunteer program has been in place since 1985, and all the findings collected by the volunteers since then are available in files at the Visitor Center. These archives can be viewed upon request. The volunteers also lead guided tours of the area near the Center. The two-hour tours, free of charge, start at 10 a.m. on the second and fourth Friday of the month.