Minoo is the gorge that commutes. From central Osaka it is about half an hour by train, which is an unreasonably short distance for what waits at the top. The peak runs from the middle of November into the first days of December, moving with each year's weather.

The valley is long and narrow, and the colour does not advance evenly along it, so the season is read section by section — the Senbon path, Shugyo-koba, Jigokudani, the first bridge — each running at its own speed. On a single day the same gorge holds green leaves and bare branches, and everything between. What you see is decided by how far you walk.

The park is part of the Meiji no Mori Minoo Quasi-National Park, and the road up the valley is the route: private cars cannot enter, so you leave the car near the station and go on foot, with the river beside you the whole way. At the head of the walk is Minoo Falls. The distance you cover is the width of the autumn you get, and the falls are the reward for taking all of it.

The trains run late and often, the entrance is minutes from the platform, and the city is just behind the ridge. It is the rare gorge you can visit on a whim. Have the whim. Walk to the falls.