Brdy

The Brdy highlands run south-west of Prague, forested and rolling to just over eight hundred metres at Tok, and their character comes from having been off limits: a military training area was established here in 1925 and the central section stayed closed to the public until the range was abolished and the area declared a protected landscape in January 2016. Ninety years as a firing range, without settlement, farming, forestry roads or tourism, left a landscape that is unusually intact for central Bohemia - large blocks of forest, peat bogs, and open heath on the artillery impact areas where shelling and fire kept the trees off, which now hold rare plants and insects. Some of that ground is still being cleared of unexploded ordnance and stays closed, and the marked routes are what is safe. There are rock fields, a set of small dams, and almost no villages inside the core.

What's there

• A military range for ninety years - from 1925 to the start of 2016, closed to the public for most of that time.
• Open heath on impact areas - kept treeless by shelling, now holding rare species.
• Large unbroken forest - with peat bogs and rock fields between.
• Almost no settlement - inside the former range core.

When to go

May to October. Two days.

Practical notes

Unexploded ordnance clearance continues and some areas remain closed - stay on marked routes, which is not advice to ignore. Facilities inside are minimal. Access by public transport is poor.

Nearby

Pribram and its mining museum are east; Rozmital is south-west.

Key facts