I Looked Into Splash Garden Chichibu Auto Campsite

This time in my series looking into campsites in the Chichibu/Nagatoro area, I'm covering Splash Garden Chichibu Auto Campsite.

It's the type of place that has an onsen right on the grounds, so as someone who cares a lot about bathing situations, this was a facility I wanted to check out first.

What Kind of Place Is Splash Garden Chichibu

It's an auto campsite located in Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture, and apparently it's open year-round with no closed days.
Reservations can be made online through the official website or through a camping reservation platform called nap.camp, as well as by phone. It seems credit cards and PayPay are also accepted for payment.

According to the official website, the grounds cover about 7,000 tsubo (roughly 23,000 square meters), making it one of the larger campsites with well-maintained grass sites even within the greater Kanto region.
There's no high-season pricing, so it seems you can use the site at the regular rate even during Golden Week or summer vacation, which I felt made the pricing nice and easy to understand.

Pricing starts at 5,990 yen per site for auto sites without power, and 6,690 yen for sites with power (up to 5 people per site). Bungalows run from about 17,000 to 26,000 yen, and day camping starts at 3,740 yen, so there's also a day-trip option available.

Beyond sites with and without power, there also seem to be scenic view sites with good views (starting at 6,990 yen), women-only sites for up to 4 people (starting at 4,990 yen), and solo camping sites for one person (starting at 2,990 yen), giving the impression that it's easy to pick a site to match your group size or purpose.

Checking the Facilities That Matter to an Indoor Type Like Me

There are 3 flush toilet locations, and it seems the women's restrooms are equipped with washlets.
As for baths, there's an onsen facility called Chichibu Kawabata Onsen Bon no Yu right on the grounds, and it looks like you can walk there easily to soak in a highly concentrated sodium bicarbonate spring. Given that a lot of campsites only offer showers on-site, this felt like a big point in its favor.

• Power sites: sites with AC power hookups available (15A, 1500W; camper vans are limited to self-driven vehicles 6.2 meters or shorter)
• Wi-Fi: free Wi-Fi spots available on the grounds
• Cooking area: hot water taps available
• Coin laundry on-site
• 11 to 12 bungalows, plus a management building/shop (selling firewood, charcoal, gas canisters, ice, etc.)

With Wi-Fi available on-site and an onsen right there on the grounds too, this combination seemed like it would offer a lot of peace of mind in terms of comfort.

Check-in is from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, and check-out is from 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM, and it seems an extra fee may apply if you arrive or leave outside those hours.
Also, apparently you can't enter or exit the grounds after 10:00 PM except in emergencies, so it seems safer to finish up any shopping early.

Sound-producing items (music, TV, radio, etc.) are asked to be kept at a low volume after 10:00 PM, and it seems rocket fireworks and aerial fireworks are prohibited, with fireworks on the riverbed allowed only until 10:00 PM (or 9:00 PM for louder ones).
Open flames directly on the grass are also prohibited, and when doing barbecue, you're asked to use a grill that has less heat impact and sits at least 30 cm above the grass. Trash apparently needs to be sorted into categories such as aluminum cans, steel cans, empty bottles, gas canisters, breakables, burnable trash, and PET bottles, then taken to the trash station on the left side of the entrance.

If you're bringing a pet, it seems you can only stay by bringing your own tent to a campsite, or by staying in one of the dog-friendly bungalows (4 units, plus 2,500 yen per dog per night), and pets apparently can't enter other bungalows or indoor facilities such as the cooking area. There's also a proper dog run and a dog onsen facility called Spa Dogs Run Chichibu on the grounds, and it seems discount tickets are available for dog run users (though these can't be combined with the Bon no Yu onsen card, apparently).

So you don't have to worry too much if you forget something, there's also a lineup of rental items available, including blankets, futon sets, chairs, BBQ grills, pots, and knife/cutting board sets. For larger items like tents and tarps, it seems you can rent them through a service called hinata Rental.

Rakuten Mobile Signal Conditions

When I checked this facility's address using the official "My Area Connectivity Simulation" tool, the overall rating came back as "AA." That's a good result, even compared to the other places I've looked into so far.

With on-site Wi-Fi available as well, this left me with the impression that there's not much to worry about here in terms of signal and connectivity.

I use Rakuten Mobile as my everyday carrier, so I often do this kind of signal check. If you're not using it yet, it might be worth taking a look at the official website whenever you're considering signing up.

Nearby Spots Worth Checking Out While You're There

For access, it's apparently about 20 km and roughly a 30-minute drive from the Hanazono IC on the Kan-etsu Expressway, via National Route 140 and the Minano-Yorii Bypass. By train, it's about a 20-minute taxi ride from Chichibu Station on the Seibu Chichibu Line, or about a 5-minute taxi ride from Minano Station on the Chichibu Railway, so it seems like a distance you could manage even without a car.

• Chichibu Kawabata Onsen Bon no Yu (on-site): a highly concentrated sodium bicarbonate spring
• Spa Dogs Run Chichibu (on-site)
• Arakawa riverbed (adjacent): river play and fireworks allowed (swimming prohibited)
• Hijiri Shrine, known as the Money God shrine (about 1.9 km away)
• Wado Ruins (about 2.4 km away)
• Bi no Yama Park, also known as Mount Mino (about 2.4 km away)
• Michi-no-Eki Minano roadside station (nearby)
• Nagatoro river rafting and the Nagatoro Iwadatami rock formations (Nagatoro area)
• Mount Hodo (Nagatoro area): shrine, ropeway, and small animal zoo
• Hitsujiyama Park (within Chichibu City)
• Chichibu Shrine (within Chichibu City)

Since you can take care of both the onsen and river play right on the grounds, this location also seems to suit people who want to minimize how much they travel around the area. Sightseeing spots in the Nagatoro and Chichibu City areas were also introduced on the official website, so it looks like you could combine a visit there on a day you want to venture out a bit further.

Wrapping Up

To sum it up again, Splash Garden Chichibu is a campsite with a good sense of balance, offering an onsen right on the grounds along with power hookups and Wi-Fi. Since there's also a day-camp option, it seems easy to use for practice before an actual overnight tent stay.

Rakuten Mobile's signal was also rated a good "AA" on the official tool, which left this place standing out to me as a candidate with little to worry about in terms of connectivity.

Having looked into all this, Rakuten Mobile does provide an official tool for checking signal conditions, so if you're thinking about signing up, it might be worth giving it a look.

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Related Links

• Official Site