MARCH AT JIGOKUDANI · GOOD · 4TH OF TWELVE

The last of the winter, thinning

Still cold enough for the bath to be in use, and the snow goes off through the month rather than on a date. Early March is a winter month. Late March is not.

4.3 °C is the 1991–2020 mean for Nagano city at 418 m. The park is at 850 m and runs two to three degrees colder, so read it as about 1.3 to 2.3 °C. 17 cm of snow falls in an average March in the city.

A young Japanese macaque walking through deep fresh snow towards the camera, snow settled on its head

¥THE GATE IN MARCH9:00–16:00ADULT ¥800 (≈$5.1) · CHILD ¥400 (≈$2.6) · OPEN EVERY DAY

The November–March timetable. Snow thins towards the end of the month.

The ticket, in detail 湯THE GUIDED DAY, YEAR-ROUND$140 (≈¥21,800)PER PERSON · TICKET INCLUDED

One price in all twelve months. What changes is what is at the end of it.

Live dates in March

What the calendar does to March

GOOD

Everything on this list is published by the park or by Nagaden and changes on a date. Snow thins towards the end of the month.

MARCH · WHAT IS PUBLISHEDCHECKED 2026-09-06

The park’s hoursNOVEMBER–MARCH TIMETABLE · OPEN EVERY DAY

9:00–16:00

The express bus from Nagano StationJR NAGANO STATION EAST EXIT, BAY 23 · NO RESERVATIONS

up to 13 a day, reportedly

The Snow Monkey Pass, winter version2026/27 PRICES WERE NOT ANNOUNCED WHEN THIS PAGE WAS CHECKED, SO THESE ARE THE 2025/26 ONES

¥5,100 (≈$33) train / ¥6,800 (≈$44) bus

The Jigokudani car park is closed

1 December – 31 March

Boots, crampons and jackets at the trailhead shop

October–May, reportedly

What the monkeys are doing in March

March is the end of it. Early in the month the bath is in normal use; by the end the reason for it is going. The bath is in use. The park is explicit that the monkeys bathe to stave off the cold — not at all hours, and not all year.

Thermoregulation and lower stress hormones — Takeshita et al., Primates 2018 (Kyoto University).

The park publishes a predicted time for the monkeys coming down from the mountain and asks visitors to check before traveling and again on the day, through its live cameras and social accounts — which is the only thing that answers «will they be there today», and it is free.

A tour cannot tell you which March you are getting

Read before booking

The snow goes off over weeks, not on a date, and no operator prices the difference between the 3rd and the 28th.

NOTHING ON SALE CHANGES THIS Park staff work to attract the monkeys during opening hours, but the monkeys may not show up at all on certain days; appearances are particularly sporadic in autumn. Seven of the 21 tours on this site include the ¥800 (≈$5.1) gate fee in the price and the rest leave it at the gate; not one of them includes a monkey.

LIVE DATES · MARCH · FROM NAGANO · TICKET INCLUDED

March, priced and dated

9:00–16:00 at the gate, up to 13 a day, reportedly on the express bus, and snow thins towards the end of the month. Everything else about the day is the same in every month, and is priced on the pages below.

See dates · $140 (≈¥21,800) · ticket included

OR FEBRUARY INSTEAD · APRIL INSTEAD · WINTER AS A WHOLE · ALL TWELVE COMPARED