The climb takes 45 minutes to one hour depending on your pace. The path consists of 2,446 stone steps through cedar forests to reach the summit shrine.
No, there is no admission fee to pass through the torii or climb to the summit. Donations are accepted at the summit shrine.
Take the shinkansen and local train to Tsuruoka Station (approximately 4 hours from Tokyo). From there, take a bus to Haguro Center stop, which is a short walk from the torii. The bus ride takes about 40 minutes.
You'll pass the Gojunoto, a 14th-century five-story pagoda designated as a National Treasure, and walk through forests containing cedar trees over 1,000 years old. At the summit is the Sanjin Gosaiden, Japan's largest thatched-roof shrine building.
The Dewasanzan Jinja O-Torii is one of the largest tori gates I've ever seen. Obviously a ferro-concrete reconstruction of a long-gone wooden version... how much more epic that one must have been on account of it being made of wood.
Worth seeing if you're walking past, although there's not much reason to go out of your way to see it. Driving under it is enough...
