The Oita prefectural tourism site gives the peak at Shin-Yabakei as late October to mid-November. The valley follows the Yamautsuri, a tributary of the Yamakuni river, through country known for oddly shaped rock — spires and outcrops standing clear of the ridgelines rather than folded into them.

The set piece is Hitome-hakkei, the eight views at a glance. From the viewing platform eight named peaks are visible at once, which is the whole conceit of the place and the reason it has been drawing visitors since long before the road was paved. Standing there, the interest is less any single peak than how much of the valley resolves from one spot.

Maples line the prefectural road 28 for a good stretch, and in the season parts of that run are lit after dark. Traffic thickens accordingly, and the lit evenings are the busiest hours of the year in a valley that is otherwise quiet.

This valley holds colour through most of the calendar, from new green to the turn, but the two or three weeks at the end of October are when people come. Access is straightforward and slightly awkward: a bus from Bungo-mori station on the JR Kyudai line takes thirty minutes to the Shin-Yabakei stop, five minutes on foot from the viewpoint, but it does not run on Sundays. By car it is twenty minutes from the Kusu interchange. There are hot springs nearby, and most visitors finish in one.