This is our attempt to instill a little love for history among our fellow cachers. We have a placed a series of caches that highlight this ancient road. Please take a moment and enjoy the ride and visit the waypoints too!
I would recommend starting your hike at the "Gosamaru Ancestoral Grave" and working your way north. The waypoint takes you to the trail head, once you get to the top, it's quite a view! Gosamaru was born in Yamada Castle, in the village of Onna. In 1416, he led the forces of Yamada Castle in support of Shō Hashi, king of the Okinawan kingdom of Chūzan, in his invasion and conquest of the neighboring kingdom of Hokuzan. Hashi would conquer the kingdom of Nanzan to the south several years later, uniting Okinawa Island, ending the Sanzan Period, and founding the unified Ryūkyū Kingdom. In recognition of his support, Gosamaru was made custodian of Hokuzan, and given Nakijin Castle, which had until then served as the royal seat of Hokuzan. Some time later, Gosamaru left Nakijin for Zakimi, in Yomitan village, where he built a new gusuku; it is said he mobilized workers from as far away as the Amami Islands for this project, and that stones were moved by hand from Yamada Castle to build the new castle.
Next head on over to the "Yamada Gusuku". There is no official marker but you can clearly see the castle ruins among the overgrowth. The hike isn't bad either :) Before reaching the next waypoint there is a fork in the trail. If you go that way you can get another cache (GC1KV44 "Ridge Run") and this trail will take you to the top of the hill, there is a lookout!
The next waypoint takes you to the "Yamada-Tanikawa Stone Bridge". There is already a cache placed pretty close to this location (GCH73J "Yamada Stone Bridge") so if you haven't found it yet, it's a fun one! I really like this location, it's very beautiful and serene. This bridge is approximately 3,500 years old!
Heading down the trail will take you to the exit and HWY 58.
The actual cache is an easy P&G