Novohradske Hory

The Novohradske hory run along the Austrian frontier east of Cesky Krumlov, a granite range topped at Kamenec at just over a thousand metres, forested in spruce and beech with peat bogs on the flatter ground and an unusually high rainfall for southern Bohemia, which is why the forest is so green and mossy. Their emptiness is recent history: the villages here were German-speaking, the population left after 1945, and the range then sat inside the border zone, so settlements were demolished and the forest took them - Pohori na Sumave, once a substantial village with a pilgrimage church, is now ruins in the trees with the church roofless. Two primeval forest reserves, Hojna Voda and Zofinsky prales, are among the oldest protected forests in Europe, set aside in 1838 by the Buquoy family. There are few marked trails, few services, and almost no visitors.

What you actually see

• Wet green forest - spruce and beech with high rainfall and peat bogs.
• Ruined villages - Pohori na Sumave and others taken back by the trees.
• Zofinsky prales - a primeval forest reserve set aside in 1838.
• Genuine emptiness - among the least visited ranges in the country.

When to go

May to October. Two days.

Honest expectations

Services and accommodation are very thin, and public transport barely exists. Trails are few and can be poorly marked. Rain is frequent. Ticks are bad. Some reserve areas are closed to entry.

Nearby

Nove Hrady and Tercino udoli are on the northern edge.