Soutok Floodplain

Soutok is the confluence area of the Morava and the Dyje in the far south-eastern corner of the country against the Austrian and Slovak borders, and it holds one of the largest surviving lowland floodplain forests in Central Europe - hard oak, ash and elm on land that was regularly inundated before the rivers were regulated, with old solitary oaks standing in meadows, oxbows, reed and wet grassland. The veteran trees are the point ecologically: they carry an exceptional saproxylic beetle fauna, including the great capricorn beetle and the hermit beetle, and the bird list runs to white-tailed eagle, black stork, corncrake and a long list of woodpeckers. Much of it was Liechtenstein estate land, hunted and managed for centuries, and there are hunting lodges and follies in the forest. Regulation and drainage damaged the hydrology and restoration is under way. Access is on forest roads with seasonal restrictions.

What you actually see

• Lowland floodplain forest - hard oak, ash and elm at the river confluence.
• Veteran solitary oaks - carrying a rare beetle fauna in the meadows.
• Oxbows and wet grassland - what is left of the pre-regulation river system.
• Estate hunting lodges - Liechtenstein buildings scattered through the woods.

When to go

April to June. A day.

Honest expectations

Access is restricted in parts and forest roads are closed during operations and in the breeding season. Mosquitoes are severe from May. The area floods. There are almost no facilities inside it.

Nearby

Lednice-Valtice is north; the Slovak and Austrian borders meet here.