The Prachov Rocks

The Prachov Rocks are a sandstone rock town in the Bohemian Paradise, a few kilometres west of Jicin: several hundred towers, walls and blocks of pale rock split by deep, narrow clefts, with pine growing straight out of the tops. Marked circuits of different lengths thread the labyrinth on steps and short metal ladders and climb to railed viewpoints where you look out across the tops of the towers rather than up at them. The rock has been a climbing ground for well over a century, and on a summer weekend you hear ropes and shouted commands from somewhere inside the maze without seeing anyone. The site is privately managed and entry is charged at the gate.

What you actually see

• The rock labyrinth - narrow clefts between sandstone towers, some barely wide enough to pass through.
• The viewpoints - railed platforms on top of the blocks, looking across a field of pinnacles.
• The climbers - ropes and belay stances on the towers, a sandstone climbing tradition with its own rules.
• The forest circuits - short and long marked loops, linked by steps and metal ladders in the gaps.

When to go

April to October for the circuits, with autumn colour among the towers the best of it. The clefts hold cold air and stay pleasant in a heatwave. Weekday mornings are far quieter than weekends, when the narrow sections back up. Ice closes parts of the route in winter. Allow more time than the map distance suggests.

Honest expectations

The paths involve a lot of steps, ladders and damp sandstone that is slippery in wet weather, and there is no shortcut once you are inside a circuit. It is ticketed, and the entry price surprises people used to free Czech forests. On summer weekends the clefts move at shuffling pace. Parts close after heavy rain or rockfall.

Nearby

Jicin sits below with its arcaded square, and Hruba Skala and the Bohemian Paradise ridges lie north.