From Matsuyama Airport to Tsuchigoya on the Ishizuchi Skyline and the entrance of the UFO Line (Town Road Kamegamori Line): the road, and the open season and hours

The end point is east of Tsuchigoya. Take the Ishizuchi Skyline at Kanmon, then enter the UFO Line (Town Road Kamegamori Line)

This article describes the road from Matsuyama Airport to Tsuchigoya (土小屋), the end of the Ishizuchi Skyline (石鎚スカイライン, Prefectural Road 12), and then to the entrance of Town Road Kamegamori Line (町道瓶ヶ森線), commonly called the UFO Line (UFOライン), which begins east of it. The drive through the UFO Line itself is not included in this article. The official guides to the UFO Line are in a later section.

The UFO Line (UFOライン, officially Town Road Kamegamori Line 町道瓶ヶ森線) is a road of Ino Town, Kochi Prefecture, not of Ehime Prefecture. The official site of the Ishizuchi mountain range writes the following.

西日本最高峰の石鎚山を背景に伸びる全長27ｋｍの町道。

Translation: “A town road, 27 km in total length, stretching with Mt. Ishizuchi, the highest peak in western Japan, in the background.”

Source: UFOライン（町道瓶ヶ森線・瓶ヶ森西線） | 石鎚山・石鎚山系公式｜石鎚山系連携事業協議会

The road falls into three parts.

Section	Road	What it is based on
Matsuyama Airport to Kanmon	National Route 33, then from Mimido the prefectural roads and National Route 494 along the Omogo River, and Prefectural Road 12	Kumakogen Town, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, map data (the same road as points 1 to 11 of the Omogo Gorge article)
Kanmon to Tsuchigoya	Ishizuchi Skyline (Prefectural Road 12), about 17.1 km	Ehime Prefecture, Kumakogen Tourist Association
Beyond Tsuchigoya	Town Road Kamegamori Line (UFO Line), 27 km in total length	Ino Town, Kochi Prefecture, Ino Town Tourist Association, Kochi Prefectural Police

The road up to Kanmon (関門) is the same as in the Omogo Gorge article. The Tobe Road and Misaka Road sections of National Route 33, the left turn at Mimido, the connection of Prefectural Road 12 and National Route 494, and Michi-no-Eki Mikawa are explained in detail there. Points 1 to 11 of this article are the same as points 1 to 11 of that article, in both position and source. The difference is point 11: the Omogo Gorge article goes straight, and this article turns right.

Time required: no figure from the airport was found; from Matsuyama IC to Tsuchigoya, about 1 hour 30 minutes and about 1 hour 50 minutes

No official page was found that gives the driving time from Matsuyama Airport to Tsuchigoya. The Matsuyama Airport official “Access to the airport” page also has no car guide for this direction. The times that were found start from Matsuyama IC.

Time given	From where to where	Which page
About 1 hour 30 minutes by car	Matsuyama IC to Tsuchigoya	Kumakogen Tourist Association, “Mt. Ishizuchi”
About 1 hour 50 minutes by car (via the Ishizuchi Skyline)	Matsuyama IC to Tsuchigoya	Ishizuchi mountain range official site, “Access information”
About 2 hours by car	Matsuyama IC to Kamegamori Parking (no road given)	Ishizuchi mountain range official site, “Access information”
Around 30 minutes by car	Kanmon to Tsuchigoya	Ehime Prefecture, “About the Ishizuchi Skyline”
About 30 minutes	Ishizuchi Skyline entrance to Tsuchigoya	Kumakogen Tourist Association, “Ishizuchi Skyline”
45 minutes by car	From the Kumakogen Town Office (no destination given. The page introduces the Ishizuchi Skyline)	Kumakogen Tourist Association, “Ishizuchi Skyline”

Kumakogen Town’s guide to Omogo Gorge gives 50 minutes from Matsuyama IC to Mimido and 30 minutes from Mimido to the entrance of Omogo Gorge. Adding Ehime Prefecture’s “around 30 minutes” from Kanmon to Tsuchigoya gives 110 minutes, which is about 1 hour 50 minutes. This is our own calculation, not a figure from an official page. It is the same length as the “about 1 hour 50 minutes” of the Ishizuchi mountain range official site. It differs from the tourist association’s “about 1 hour 30 minutes,” and the reason cannot be told from either page.

Ishizuchi Skyline: closed at night, so leave through the Kanmon gate by closing time. Winter closure from December 1

The Kumakogen Civil Engineering Office of Ehime Prefecture writes the gate hours as follows.

石鎚スカイラインは、落石などによる事故を未然に防止するため夜間通行止め（通年）を実施しています。また、冬期は積雪による通行困難のため、期間通行止めを実施しています。 通行可能時間については、日の出・日の入り時刻を考慮のうえ、下記のとおり設定しております。

Translation: “To prevent accidents caused by falling rocks and similar causes, the Ishizuchi Skyline is closed at night all year round. In winter, it is also closed for a set period because snow makes driving difficult. The hours when the road can be used are set as below, taking sunrise and sunset times into account.”

Period	Gate opens	Gate closes	Note
April 1 to April 28	7:00	18:00
April 29 to May 31	7:00	19:00
June 1 to June 30	7:00	20:00
July 1 to July 10	4:00	20:00	Opening of the mountain season (お山開き)
July 11 to August 31	7:00	20:00
September 1 to November 30	7:00	18:00
December 1 to March 31 of the next year	Winter closure period

土小屋・関門（面河）の2地点それぞれにゲートを設置しており、それぞれ開門時刻に開錠、閉門時刻に施錠を行います。 閉門時刻までに関門（面河）ゲートから出ないと翌朝の開門時刻まで出られなくなりますので、時間に余裕をもって通行してください。 関門～土小屋間は約17.1kmあり、通過するには車で30分程度かかります。

Translation: “There are gates at two places, Tsuchigoya and Kanmon (Omogo). Each gate is unlocked at its opening time and locked at its closing time. If you do not leave through the Kanmon (Omogo) gate by the closing time, you cannot leave until the gate opens the next morning, so please allow plenty of time. The distance between Kanmon and Tsuchigoya is about 17.1 km, and it takes around 30 minutes to drive through.”

Source: 石鎚スカイラインについて - 愛媛県庁公式ホームページ（久万高原土木事務所）

The update date of this page is April 1, 2021, and it says the toll is “free.” Kumakogen Tourist Association and Iyokan Net also give the same times as in the table.

October 14, 2026 falls in the row for September 1 to November 30: the gate opens at 7:00 and closes at 18:00. A car coming back from Tsuchigoya to Kanmon also has to leave the Kanmon gate by 18:00. To work out when you reach Tsuchigoya, add around 30 minutes to the time you pass Kanmon.

For winter, the tourist association’s notice of December 2025 wrote the following.

≪西条久万線（県道12）冬季全面通行止め≫ 冬季閉鎖期間：令和7年12月1日（月曜日）～令和8年3月31日（火曜日）

Translation: “<< Saijo-Kuma Line (Prefectural Road 12) full winter closure >> Winter closure period: Monday, December 1, 2025 to Tuesday, March 31, 2026”

Source: 【交通情報】石鎚スカイライン　西条久万線（県道12）冬季閉鎖について｜イベント・交通情報｜久万高原町観光協会

A notice of the winter closure for fiscal 2026 (Reiwa 8) was not found on the pages of Ehime Prefecture, Kumakogen Town or the tourist association as of October 14, 2026. The prefecture’s page also gives the amount of rain that closes the road.

時間雨量40mm若しくは連続雨量200mmの降雨が観測された場合、通行止めを行いますのでご注意ください。

Translation: “The road is closed when rainfall of 40 mm per hour or 200 mm of continuous rainfall is observed, so please be careful.”

Source: 石鎚スカイラインについて - 愛媛県庁公式ホームページ（久万高原土木事務所）

The Kumakogen Tourist Association’s page also writes about closures outside winter and about fuel.

※冬季通行止め以外も、規制雨量を超えた場合や、早い時期の積雪や4月以降の積雪でも通行止めになる可能性もありますので、ご注意ください。 ※ガソリンはしっかり満タンにして、石鎚スカイラインを上がりましょう。

Translation: “* The road may also be closed outside the winter closure, when the restricted rainfall is exceeded, or because of early snow or snow after April, so please be careful. * Fill up your gasoline tank fully before going up the Ishizuchi Skyline.”

Source: 石鎚スカイライン｜まんてんスポット｜久万高原町観光協会

On the distance, Ehime Prefecture gives about 17.1 km from Kanmon to Tsuchigoya, while Iyokan Net gives a total length of about 18 km, so the numbers differ. As a stop on the way, the tourist association says there is the Nagao-one Observation Point (長尾尾根展望台) at the 13.1 km point. The page does not say where the distance is counted from.

Autumn leaf season: the best time on the Ishizuchi Skyline is mid to late October. No official guide on crowds was found

The Kumakogen Tourist Association’s “Autumn leaf feature” gives the best time on the Ishizuchi Skyline as mid to late October. The “Mt. Ishizuchi” page of the Ishizuchi mountain range official site gives the best time around the summit as around October 10.

No official page was found about crowds on the Ishizuchi Skyline in the autumn leaf season, guidance for when the parking lots are full, or temporary parking lots.

About the UFO Line, the Ino Town Tourist Association writes the following about busy periods.

また、道路は全て舗装されておりますが、１車線となっておりＧＷや秋の紅葉シーズンは混み合いますので、十分に気をつけてドライブをお楽しみください。

Translation: “The road is all paved, but it has one lane and is crowded in Golden Week and in the autumn leaf season, so please drive carefully and enjoy the drive.”

Source: UFOライン（町道瓶ヶ森線） | 高知県いの町観光ガイド

A page published in July 2020 by the Tosa Police Station of the Kochi Prefectural Police writes the following about traffic on the UFO Line.

ＵＦＯラインでは、人気の高まりとともに交通量も増え、交通事故も増加傾向にありますが、万が一、交通事故や道迷い等で警察や消防に通報する場合には、路面に表示されている数字を活用し、自分の現在地をお伝えください。

Translation: “On the UFO Line, traffic has increased as it has become more popular, and traffic accidents are also on the rise. If you ever need to report a traffic accident, being lost, or the like to the police or fire department, please use the numbers shown on the road surface to tell them where you are.”

Source: UFOライン特集！～①道路に書かれた謎の数字・・・ | 高知県警察ホームページ「こうちのまもり」

This page was published in 2020 and does not give the number of accidents.

The fork at Kanmon and the Ishizuchi Skyline: turn right toward Tsuchigoya

The fork at Kanmon is at the same place as in the Omogo Gorge article. Kumakogen Town’s “Access” page says to go “straight without going toward the Ishizuchi Skyline (without turning right)” for Omogo Gorge. This article goes the opposite way, to the right-turn side. In map data, Prefectural Road 12 switches to the Ishizuchi Skyline near point 11, and the gate is recorded at the position of point 12. The latitude and longitude of point 12 are the gate’s point in map data, and the signs and fence of the gate have not been confirmed on official pages.

About Goraiko Falls (御来光の滝) at point 13 on the way, Iyokan Net writes the following.

滝は「石鎚スカイライン」途中の駐車場から眺められ、轟音とともに流れ落ちる迫力は遠目でも伝わります。

Translation: “The falls can be seen from a parking lot along the Ishizuchi Skyline, and the power of the water crashing down with a roar can be felt even from a distance.”

Source: 【愛媛県久万高原町】登山しなくても楽しめる！石鎚山：土小屋と周辺のおすすめスポット３選｜ひめ旅録｜愛媛県の公式観光サイト【いよ観ネット】

The number of spaces at this parking lot and whether it has toilets were not written on any official page.

Tsuchigoya: parking and toilets around the monument. The UFO Line starts to the east

Tsuchigoya is the end of the Ishizuchi Skyline and a trailhead of Mt. Ishizuchi. The Kumakogen Tourist Association writes in its address field “Prefectural Road 12 (Mt. Ishizuchi starting point ‘Tsuchigoya’ parking lot).”

Item	What is written	Which page
Parking	About 100 spaces (in the field for the guide to the whole of Mt. Ishizuchi)	Iyokan Net, “Mt. Ishizuchi”
Toilets	The area around the monument is a parking lot, with toilets and a shelter	Iyokan Net (Tsuchigoya page)
Shops and food	“Tsuchigoya terrace” (cafe) at the end of the Ishizuchi Skyline	Iyokan Net (Tsuchigoya page)

The original text of Iyokan Net’s Tsuchigoya page is as follows.

周囲は駐車場で、お手洗いや東屋も設置され休憩スポットとしても利用可能です。

Translation: “The surroundings are a parking lot, and toilets and a shelter are also provided, so it can also be used as a rest spot.”

Source: 【愛媛県久万高原町】登山しなくても楽しめる！石鎚山：土小屋と周辺のおすすめスポット３選｜ひめ旅録｜愛媛県の公式観光サイト【いよ観ネット】

The parking fee, the hours the toilets can be used, and how the toilets are handled in winter were not found on official pages. There are lodges and cafes around Tsuchigoya, but their business hours have not been confirmed.

In map data, the road of Town Road Kamegamori Line (UFO Line) starts just east of the records of the Tsuchigoya parking lot and toilets. Point 15 is a point on that road. No official page was found that says from which place at Tsuchigoya you enter the UFO Line.

UFO Line: a one-lane road of Ino Town, Kochi Prefecture. Open season and weekday time restrictions

Outline and manager

The UFO Line (officially Town Road Kamegamori Line) is a road of Ino Town, Kochi Prefecture. The page of Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture, on the “Kamegamori bio-toilet” also says the “UFO Line” is managed by Ino Town, Kochi Prefecture. The Kochi Prefecture tourism site “Kochi Tabi Net” writes the following about the road.

※ 道路が狭いのでスピードは控えめに。対向車やバイク、自転車の通行に注意して走行してください。 ※ 道路脇の待避所は駐車場ではありません（長時間の停車はご遠慮ください）。行き違いなどの停車の際にも、他の車両等の通行を妨げにならないよう、ご配慮ください。

Translation: “* The road is narrow, so keep your speed down. Watch for oncoming cars, motorcycles and bicycles. * The pull-outs beside the road are not parking lots (please do not stop for a long time). When you stop to let vehicles pass, please take care not to block other vehicles.”

Source: UFOライン | 観光スポット検索 | 高知県観光情報Webサイト「こうち旅ネット」

No official page was found that gives the road width in meters. The Ino Town Tourist Association writes “one lane,” and Iyokan Net writes “the road is one lane wide, so be careful of oncoming cars.” Kochi Tabi Net describes a road of about 27 km along a ridge at an altitude of 1,300 to 1,700 m. No mention of a toll was found on any page.

The Tosa Police Station of the Kochi Prefectural Police says that numbers from 0 to 26 are written on the road surface at intervals of about 1 km, from Kanpu Chaya (寒風茶屋) at the entrance on the Kochi side toward Tsuchigoya. 0 is on the Kochi side, and 26 is on the Tsuchigoya side.

Open season: winter closure from late November to April

The way the winter closure period is written differs by page.

Period given	Which page
Winter closure from late November to early April (the spot information field of the same page says “winter closure from late November to mid-April”)	Ino Town Tourist Association, “UFO Line”
Winter closure from late November to mid-April	Kochi Tabi Net (updated April 13, 2026)
Winter closure from the end of November to early April	Ishizuchi mountain range official site, “UFO Line”
Winter closure from the end of November to mid-April	Ishizuchi mountain range official site, “Access information”
Winter closure from late November to mid-April, as a guide	Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture, “For those climbing the Ishizuchi mountains in winter”

The Ino Town Tourist Association’s notices give the past record. In 2025, the winter closure began at 12:00 on Sunday, November 30. In spring 2026, the same association’s list of news shows “UFOライン4月12日（日）17:00〜オープンしました！” (UFO Line opened at 17:00 on Sunday, April 12!). The page of Saijo City on the Kamegamori bio-toilet (updated April 8, 2026) said that as of April 7 the UFO Line was closed and the mountain could not be entered.

The date of the 2026 winter closure was not found on any of the pages of Ino Town, the Ino Town Tourist Association or the Ishizuchi mountain range official site as of October 14, 2026. The closure date in 2025 was November 30, so it is close to the time of the closure of the Ishizuchi Skyline (from December 1).

Weekday time-based traffic restrictions (map as of September 11, 2026)

The Ino Town Tourist Association’s notice of August 31, 2026 wrote the following.

ＵＦＯライン、県道石鎚公園線（県道40号）にて、それぞれ時間規制の工事を行っております。 平日に行かれる方はお気を付けください。

Translation: “Time-restricted construction is being carried out on the UFO Line and on the Prefectural Road Ishizuchi Park Line (Prefectural Road 40). People going on weekdays, please be careful.”

Source: いの町（UFOライン・県道石鎚公園線）の通行規制について | 高知県いの町観光ガイド

Ino Town’s “Mountain tourist road information” page tells people driving the UFO Line and the Ishizuchi Park Line to check road information, such as the road closure information (PDF). That PDF (as of September 11, 2026, Reiwa 8) shows, on a map, tables for each construction company.

One table has an arrow connected to a circle on the UFO Line: the table of Kaika Co., Ltd. (有限会社開化). The arrow points to the left side of the map (the Tsuchigoya side), to an area north of Tsuchigoya and Yosakoi-toge (よさこい峠), on the west side of a mountain labeled “Nishikuromori” (西黒森). The contents of the table are as follows.

Item	Contents of the table
Period	From August 17, 2026 (Reiwa 8) to December 27, 2026 (except Saturdays and Sundays)
Closed hours	9:10 to 10:00, 10:10 to 11:00, 11:10 to 12:00, 13:00 to 13:50, 14:00 to 14:50, 15:00 to 15:50, 16:00 to 16:50

Between the hours in the table there are gaps of 10 minutes, such as 10:00 to 10:10, and a gap of 1 hour from 12:00 to 13:00. This is our own reading of the table, not wording from an official guide. The table says except Saturdays and Sundays, and does not say how holidays are handled. The winter closure of the UFO Line is announced as starting from late November or the end of November, so of the table’s period up to December 27, the UFO Line can be driven only until the closure date.

The same map also has a table of Nakata Kenki Co., Ltd. (中田建機有限会社), placed near the UFO Line. Its period was August 1 to October 10, 2026 (Reiwa 8), except Saturdays and Sundays, and this period ended on October 10. Its hours were 8:30 to 9:30, 10:00 to 10:55, 11:20 to 12:15, 13:00 to 13:55, 14:30 to 15:30 and 15:55 to 16:30. The arrow of this table was read as extending to a circle on Prefectural Road 40 (Ishizuchi Park Line). The lines on the map were read by eye, and it has not been confirmed with the Hongawa General Branch Office (本川総合支所) which table is the restriction on the UFO Line.

The notice of the same date on the Ishizuchi mountain range official site shows an image of a “road closure location map,” with no explanation in text.

Saijo City’s notice of October 3, 2025 says that Prefectural Road 40 was shown as closed in the route search of map sites, which suggested detours. Prefectural Road 40 at that time was written as open, with only time-based traffic restrictions. This is an example where the display of a map site’s route search differed from the restrictions on the spot.

Places with no mobile phone signal

The survey of the Tosa Police Station of the Kochi Prefectural Police (as of July 2020, Reiwa 2) tabulates the call status of au, docomo and SoftBank for each number on the road surface. There are five points where all three show “calls not possible”: 3, 8, 10, 15 and 16. The numbers are 0 at Kanpu Chaya on the Kochi side and 26 on the Tsuchigoya side. The survey was done in 2020, and the “How far does the mobile phone signal reach?” page of the same station says the signal strength may change with the weather and the device.

Parking and toilets at Kamegamori

The access information of the Ishizuchi mountain range official site writes the trailhead of Kamegamori as “Kamegamori Parking” and gives about 2 hours by car from Matsuyama IC. The road is not written. Iyokan Net’s page on Kamegamori says that from Iyo-Saijo IC you go through National Route 11, National Route 194 and the old Kanpuzan Tunnel (旧寒風山トンネル), enter the Kamegamori forest road (瓶ヶ森林道), and reach the parking lot in about 45 minutes. This is the way in from the Kochi side, and is a different way from the one in this article, which enters from Tsuchigoya.

About the toilet, Saijo City writes the following.

瓶ヶ森の旧瓶ヶ森ヒュッテ跡地横に、【瓶ヶ森避難小屋】と【バイオトイレ】を整備しています。 … 【開所期間】令和8年4月7日（火曜日）から令和8年11月中旬頃まで ※閉所日は気象状況により判断し、閉所時にお知らせます。

Translation: “A [Kamegamori evacuation hut] and a [bio-toilet] have been built next to the site of the former Kamegamori Hutte. … [Opening period] From Tuesday, April 7, Reiwa 8 to around mid-November, Reiwa 8. * The closing day will be decided according to the weather, and will be announced when it closes.”

Source: 瓶ヶ森の「バイオトイレ」が開所されました - 愛媛県西条市ホームページ

This toilet is at the site of the former hutte, and it cannot be told from the page whether it is inside the Kamegamori Parking. No official page giving the number of spaces, the fee, or the distance from Tsuchigoya for Kamegamori Parking was found.

What to check before you leave

• Ishizuchi Skyline gates, and rain and winter restrictions: The Kumakogen Civil Engineering Office (0892-21-1210). The update date of the prefecture’s page found for this article is April 1, 2021, and it does not give the closure date for fiscal 2026.
• UFO Line restrictions and winter closure: The Industry and Construction Division of the Hongawa General Branch Office of Ino Town (088-869-2115) and the Ino Town Tourist Association (088-893-1211). In Saijo City’s guide too, the contact for the UFO Line is the Industry and Construction Division of the Hongawa General Branch Office. Have a passenger make the call, or call after you have stopped the car.
• National Route 33 in rain and winter: These are summarized under “Rain and winter” in the Omogo Gorge article. The Misaka Road section is in the Shikoku Karst article and the heavy rain and typhoon article.
• Winter tires and chains: The winter roads article has the rules of Ehime Prefecture and the handling of rental cars.
• Fuel: The Kumakogen Town gas station page (updated May 26, 2026) tabulates the Saturday and Sunday business days of 5 stations in the town, with addresses in Kuma, Irino, Tsuyumine and Okawa. Stations in Omogo Gorge or Wakayama are not listed. Whether there is a place to refuel on the Ishizuchi Skyline is not written on official pages.
• Rental cars: The return time is in What to know before renting a car at Matsuyama Airport.

What comes next for this article

The point numbers will be the same as the chapter numbers in the driving video. This article was written only from official pages and map data, and has not been driven yet. The latitude and longitude of the points are points of roads and facilities in map data, not the intersections or entrances themselves.

The road status map of Ino Town (PDF) is a figure. It was turned into images, and the connections between the tables and the lines and arrows were read by eye.

What could not be confirmed from official pages and map data is as follows.

• The driving time from Matsuyama Airport to Tsuchigoya, and the official route in the direction leaving the airport
• The reason for the difference between the Kumakogen Tourist Association’s “about 1 hour 30 minutes” and the Ishizuchi mountain range official site’s “about 1 hour 50 minutes”
• The schedule of the winter closure of the Ishizuchi Skyline in fiscal 2026, and the date of the winter closure of the UFO Line in 2026
• The road width (in meters), the toll, and any rules by vehicle type for the UFO Line
• Which table on the map corresponds to the time-based traffic restriction of the UFO Line (the map is as of September 11, and it has not been confirmed whether it is the latest as of October 14)
• Parking lots and toilets on the way on the Ishizuchi Skyline, and the parking fee and the number of spaces at Tsuchigoya (a figure for Tsuchigoya alone)
• The distance and time from Tsuchigoya to Kamegamori Parking, and the number of spaces, fee and toilets at Kamegamori Parking
• An official page that describes crowds in the autumn leaf season or guidance for when the parking lots are full

After driving it, we will add the signs at the fork at Kanmon, the narrow places and passing on the Skyline, how the Tsuchigoya parking lot looks, how to turn into the UFO Line, and the on-site signs of the time-based traffic restrictions.