toward evening; in the early evening
Refers to the time of day when it is getting dark, roughly from late afternoon to early night. Can be used as a noun or adverb.
It started raining toward evening.
晩方に散歩するのが好きです。
I like taking a walk in the early evening.
Compound of 晩 (ban, 'evening') and 方 (kata, 'direction' or 'time'), literally 'the direction/time of evening'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word has been used since at least the Edo period.