Best of Saitama: family friendly Chikozan Park in Sayama City

Suitable for a day trip from Tokyo, Chikozan park is a Multi-purpose park with Campsite, BBQ, Zoo, Fireflies, Fishing, Sport facilities, Athletic Playground, Multi-use Playground, Beautiful Flora and Fauna with seasonal flower festivals

Chikozan Park

Chikozan Park in Sayama is a beautiful, vast park with lots of attractions for all types and ages.

In this post

Information for the…

• Playgrounds
• Zoo
  • Firefly viewing
• Barbecue
• Campsite
• Sports Facilities and Fishing
• (Restaurant – but it has been closed for much of the pandemic)
• Seasonal flowers
  • Wintersweet, Witch hazel, Cherry Blossoms, Roses, Iris, Autumn leaves
    • Rose Festival (Click to jump to information)
    • Iris and Greenery Festival

Playgrounds

There are two playgrounds in the park. Both are set in a wooded area which affords plenty of shade and protection from the elements. Moreover, they are beside each other too, so kids can run between both and enjoy a couple of hours of fun.

The athletic playground was completely upgraded in 2017 as you can see in the photos above. The general playground is colorful with some unique equipment, as you can see in the photo below:

Zoo

About a 15 minute walk from these playgrounds is the zoo (more information on the zoo: Chikozan Park Zoo). Past the zoo is a marsh with a boardwalk running through it leading to the camping grounds. This used to be the main barbecue area, but they added another barbecue and picnic area around 2020 (see next paragraph).

Firefly viewing

Separate to the zoo, there is a firefly house near the campsite. Firefly season is June. You can be lucky sometimes and see them glowing from outside the house during the season. But you are only allowed into the house for viewing on two select dates each year. In 2023, that will be Saturday June 17th and Sunday June 18th. Official event page.

Barbecue

The welfare center used to take care of the BBQ facilities and you could order BBQ food sets from them. They closed the service from 2020 to 2022 due to the pandemic. They reopened the barbecue after three long years in 2023. However, there have been a couple of changes. For one, they don’t seem to be doing the barbecue food sets anymore. In addition, they have reduced the number of plots available. Furthermore, they are restricting the number of people per lot to 8 people. It costs 500 yen for one plot if you are local (Sayama, Hidaka, Tokorozawa, Iruma, Hanno) and 1000 yen if you are not. Official web page.

Camp

The camping grounds had two wooden cottages until 2021. They built more and gave the camping site a complete overhaul between 2021 and 2023. Chikozan Park’s cabins are very reasonable to rent. But due to their affordable price, it is quite hard to get a booking for them. There is also other accommodation in Chikozan park at the Welfare Center.

Sports facilities and fishing center

Sporting facilities include a large sports hall with table tennis, training room, running course, martial arts dojo and many more. There are tennis courts near the children’s zoo. Near the campsite there is a large fishing center. There is a club house in this area.

Restaurant

Beside the tennis courts there is a family restaurant. It is a Japanese style restaurant with a raised tatami section which is useful with small kids. The kid’s meal is reasonably priced and quite nice too (pictured above). 2020 – 2022: the restaurant may not be available due to the coronavirus.

Seasonal flowers

I particularly recommend Autumn, for the leaf colors. Also, the Cherry Blossom season is a prime time to visit Chikozan park. There is one garden in the park with a number of Cherry Blossoms around a lake. The zoo also has some lovely cherry blossoms. More information on the zoo here.

In 2018 they created a wintersweet grove. By 2022 the wintersweet are looking good despite still being quite young.

In addition, the botanical garden has various different blooms and looks picturesque all year round. During February you can see Mahonia, Witch Hazel and pansies, to name but a few. The current featured photo at the top of the post, of Witch Hazel, was taken at the botanical garden on January 28th 2022.

Rose Festival

During May you can enjoy beautiful roses in the park. In addition, for one weekend of the bloom period they have a rose festival. In 2023, the rose festival at Chikozan park is on Saturday May 20th and Sunday May 21st between 10 am and 4 pm. During the two day festival they have live music performances, a flea market and food stalls.

Iris and the Greenery Festival

From mid May to June Iris grow in the park. The Iris garden is on the West end of the park close to the playgrounds. There are approximately 2600 iris in Chikozan’s iris garden. Furthermore, the iris garden includes the Kakitsubata variety of iris which blooms in May. Chikozan normally have a greenery festival in early June, typically when the Iris are in bloom. The festival generally falls on the first or second Saturday and Sunday of June. During the period they normally decorate the area with festival lanterns. In 2023, the festival is on Saturday June 10th to Sunday June 11th, between 10 am and 3 pm.

Waku Waku Park Festival

Each year in November, there is a Waku Waku Park festival at Chikozan. However, in both 2020 and 2021 it was cancelled due to the pandemic. It will be back in 2022 for the first time in three years. It is a two day event of live performances, events and a flea market. In 2022 it is on November 5th (11 am to 4 pm) and 6th (10 am to 3 pm).

Official event web page.

Chikozan Park Information

The park and its parking are free, but you do need to pay into the zoo (which is very reasonable) and to use some of the facilities such as the tennis courts and camping grounds. You can book online, however their website is in Japanese only.

Parts of the park can be accessed at all times, but the car parks and various facilities have varying opening and closing times. Generally speaking the park is most accessible between 9 am and 4.30 pm. There are toilets in various locations in the park.

Access

You can get a Seibu Bus bound for Chikozan park from Sayamashi station.

Parking available in front of the zoo as well as by the tennis courts, the botanical garden and the wintersweet grove. There is also a separate parking area for campsite users. All parking lots are free.

In the Area

• Cats Eye Play and Sports Centre | SAYAMA
• Hidaka Sougou Park | HIDAKA
• Saiboku No Mori – New in Hidaka
• A fun day out in Saiboku; Hot springs and Ham!

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