Cesky Les

Cesky les, the Bohemian Forest range proper, runs about a hundred kilometres along the Bavarian frontier north of Sumava, lower and gentler - the highest point, Cerchov, is 1042 metres - with spruce and beech forest, peat bogs and rounded ridges. It was declared a protected landscape area only in 2005, very late, and the reason is the same as elsewhere on this border: the German-speaking population left after 1945, the Iron Curtain closed the strip for forty years, and dozens of villages were demolished. Walking here means passing stone foundations, orchards gone wild, cemeteries and church ruins in the forest, all of it marked on maps that still carry the old names. The wildlife has returned accordingly - lynx are present, and elk and wolves cross from Bavaria. There is almost no tourist infrastructure, which is exactly what distinguishes it from Sumava next door.

The landscape

• A hundred kilometres of border ridge - spruce, beech and peat bog to 1042 metres.
• Demolished villages - foundations, wild orchards and cemeteries in the forest.
• Lynx country - with elk and wolves crossing from the Bavarian side.
• Almost no infrastructure - the reason it stays as quiet as it does.

When to go

May to October. Two days.

Before you go

Services are minimal and public transport is very poor. Trails are long between villages. Ticks are bad. Weather is wetter and cooler than the lowlands. Old village sites are unmarked on the ground.

Nearby

Sumava begins to the south; Tachov and Domazlice are the gateway towns.