The trail around Mount Usu's main crater belongs to the Hokkaido nature trail network and was constructed in 2003 in a wave of building sidewalks and trails connecting historical and cultural places and ressources of the region that are representative of Hokkaido. As one of the Hokkaido Nature Trails, the Usu Volcano South Rim Hiking Trail leads half-around the outer rim of the crater from the 1977 eruption. You can easily reach the trail by taking the Usu Ropeway to the top, walk a bit to the top observatory from which the trail will take you to down and half-around the crater for 1.1km. It's quite an easy hike, since the trail is equipped with a build path and stairs. ◆Recommended view points At the entrance as well as the end point of the trail, you can find observatory decks that have a great panoramic view stretching from the Pacific Ocean with a beautiful view over the Usu Bay, over to the crater to the far distance with Mount Yotei and Lake Toya. From the middle, where you are closest to the crater (Usu ropeway summit station side), you have an outlook to the remains of the largest crater that was once (until 1977) called the silver swamp.