One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Sunagawa砂川市
The sweets road along Route 12
Sorachi region · Inland central Hokkaido: coal heritage, wineries and seasonal fields.
Sunagawa is Hokkaido's 'sweets road' — a strip of famous confectioners along the highway that dessert pilgrims drive out from Sapporo for.
Sunagawa is a small city on the Ishikari River north of Bibai, and Sapporo people know it for one thing: the stretch of Route 12 lined with confectioners that has been branded the 'Sunagawa Sweets Road'. Beyond the cake boxes it has a prefectural children's park in the hills, a big riverside park built around a flood basin, and a highway oasis on the Do-o Expressway that most drivers between Sapporo and Asahikawa pull into at some point.
- Region
- Sorachi (空知)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~112 km · 1.7 h summer / 2 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~91 km · 1.4 h summer / 1.7 h winter
- Best season in Sorachi
- Canola usually in mid to late May, the coal museum from spring to autumn (closed in winter); winery visits depend on each winery.
Sunagawa at a glance
Drive estimates: straight-line × 1.35, at 65 km/h (summer) / 55 km/h (winter). How we calculate
What to see in Sunagawa
Hokkaido Children's Land
北海道子どもの国
A large prefectural park on the hills across the river, with a forest of oversized play structures, walking trails, a campground and lawns big enough to lose an afternoon in.
Sunagawa Oasis Park
砂川オアシスパーク
A riverside park on the Ishikari built around a flood-control basin, with a lake for canoes and rowing, cycling paths and open grass. The highway oasis on the expressway connects directly to it.
Sunagawa Sweets Road
すながわスイーツロード
The nickname for the Route 12 strip through the centre, where several long-established confectioners cluster within walking distance. Apple pie, cream puffs and roll cakes are the usual haul.
Getting to Sunagawa
Sunagawa station is on the JR Hakodate Main Line, about 50 minutes from Sapporo by limited express and 25 minutes from Asahikawa. Route 12 runs through the centre, and the Do-o Expressway has a Sunagawa service area and highway oasis with its own smart interchange. Sapporo is about 1.5 hours by car, Asahikawa Airport about 50 minutes.
Sorachi region: Between Sapporo and Asahikawa by JR or car. Sights are spread out, so check the last leg from the station; anyone tasting wine should not drive.
When to visit Sunagawa
May to October for the two big parks, with July and August best for the lake and campground. Apple season from September gives the confectioners their best pies. The sweets road works in any month, and a winter drive up Route 12 with a warm bakery stop is a Sapporo habit.
What to eat in Sunagawa
Cakes and pastries are the reason to stop: apple pie, cream puffs and baked sweets from the confectioners on Route 12, with local apples and Hokkaido dairy behind them. The farmland around town grows rice, and Sunagawa is also a small producer of grapes and other fruit.
Sunagawa in context: the Sorachi region
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Coal mining shaped many Sorachi towns, and places such as Yubari and Mikasa still keep that history in museums, rail relics and quiet main streets.
Towns near Sunagawa
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More towns in Sorachi
Other regions: Ishikari · Shiribeshi · Iburi · Hidaka · Oshima · Hiyama · Kamikawa · Rumoi · Soya · Okhotsk · Tokachi · Kushiro · Nemuro