4. Park Review: Miyagase Park (near Atsugi)

Miyagase is a man-made lake nestled high in the Tanzawa Mountain range. On one end of the lake is a fantastic park. The centerpiece of the park is a beautiful, pedestrian only, suspension bridge. Below the bridge lie walking paths, huge grassy lawns, an outdoor stage (with occasional live weekend performances), a kayaking/canoeing pond, streams and ponds for kids to play in, and much, much more.
A mini-train runs a full circuit around the entire park. I recommend that you take a ride on the train, or walk its course yourself. On the far side of the parking lots, is another interesting section of the park. Here you can play putter golf, ride go-carts on a track that winds through the woods, or try out the 'sliding slope'. Rent plastic sleds and slide down a long, wide section of slippery, artificial grass. Fees for all activities are very reasonable. I read that there are also many hiking trails nearby, in addition to camp sites and a swimming hole. In popular months, a tour boat ride circles the lake in about an hour.
This is a great 'day trip' from Tokyo. For lunch, bring a picnic, rent a BBQ grill (food included), or visit one of the many stalls or restaurants at the top of the gigantic staircase.
Getting there:

By train and bus: Take the Odakyu Line to Hon-Atsugi Station. Then, take a Kanagawa Chuo bus t Miyagase. The bus ride takes approximately one hour.

By car: There are a number of ways to get there, but this is the easiest: Take the Chuo Highway to the Sagamiko Interchange. From there, you want to make your way to route 412. I recommend plugging in the phone number for the park into your car navigation system.

There are over 1500 parking spots and parking is reasonable.

Visitor's Center: 046-288-1373.
Park Phone: 046-288-1340
Website: http://www.miyagase.com/ It is all in Japanese, but it still might be helpful.

**During the Christmas season, a 100+ year old fir tree is decorated with 10,000 lamps. At 28 meters, it is the tallest Christmas tree in Japan. An arch, and other trees in the park, are also decorated with 100,000 lamps (from 5-11pm).