Gas-san is the highest of the three mountains of Dewa Sanzan. Its mountaintop shrine, which stands 1984 meters above sea level, is closed for the majority of the year due to heavy snowfall and is inaccessible by road. Only the summer months see hundreds of pilgrims and tourists hiking up to this impressive shrine.
The paved road to Gas-san ends with a parking lot at the 8th Station, from where the final five kilometers to the summit must be completed on foot. From the top, pilgrims traditionally continue down the other side to Yudono-san. Because Gas-san is the mountain symbolizing death, it is typically the second shrine visited by pilgrims, after Haguro-san (birth), and before Yudono-san (rebirth).
