Trip along the Mountain Ridge

The route starts in Železná Ruda at the Baroque Church of Our Lady with a striking onion-shaped dome, which was built between 1729 and 1732. Its ground plan in the shape of a six-pointed star is also unusual. You will be guided by a blue-marked hiking trail, which leads first to Belveder Hill. Here, the eponymous mountain hotel stands, where the tradition of producing Železná Ruda local beer has been restored several years ago. On both sides of the hill, there are sports facilities which, in addition to downhill skiing tracks, also offer various summer activities including a rope centre and slalom for non-motorised carts.

The road continues up to the Hofmanky tourist crossroads, where you will also find the transfer station of the chairlift. If you need a rest soon, you can get to the top of Pancíř this way. The fittest ones, though, can walk the final ascent along the blue-mark trail. Pancíř reaches an altitude of 1,214 m and on its top, there is a tourist hut with a lookout tower from 1923. The tower has a viewing platform at a height of 15 m and allows you to see the western part of Bohemian Forest with the highest mountain Velký Javor (Großer Arber, 1,456 m) on the German side. A road leads from the Špičák pass to this place, which makes Pancíř one of the highest peaks in Bohemian Forest Sumava accessible to cyclists.

From Pancíř, the red trail leads you on a pleasant walk around the Habr hill (1,203 metres) to the nearby Můstek. All the time you will have beautiful views of the entire Královský Hvozd (Kunisch Mountains), as this part of Bohemian forrest is called, with the dominating double summit of Ostrý, or the valley of the Úhlava with the Nýrsko Water Reserve. Můstek rises to an altitude of 1,234 metres and is, therefore, the highest summit of this ridge. Until 1995, there was a tourist hut with a lookout tower, but it was destroyed by fire and only the foundations remain.

A comfortable stretch of the journey follows of about six kilometres with far-reaching views, which takes you over Prenet (also called the Velký Prenet, 1,070 metres) to the Malý Prenet pass. On the right, you will pass the Městiště Gorge Reserve, which includes a spring pool, peat bogs, the tributary floodplains of the Jelenka stream, gorge forests and a complex of meadows and pastures with scattered greenery. Below Malý Prenet (1,006 m) there is a mountain hut and behind it there is a building of the former Kunisch manor, later converted into a recreation centre. The adjacent chapel of St. Cunigunde dates back to the 14th century and acquired its present form during the reconstruction in the 17th century. The chapel is undergoing reconstruction, but it is still a reminder of the former settlement, which disappeared after the eviction of the German population after WW2.

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From Malý Prenet to the church of St. Wolfgang

From Malý Prenet, you can complete the trip following the green-marked trail marker to Zelená Lhota, from which you can overlook the region from various positions. In the hamlet, the 18th-century St. Wolfgang’s Church, which stands on a hilltop, is worth visiting. From the pass, however, you can also follow the green-marked trail in the opposite direction. The descent will not be so considerable and you will come to Hojsova Stráž, where there is also a railway station from where you can comfortably return to Železná Ruda.

Route: Železná Ruda – Pancíř – Můstek – Prenet – Zelená Lhota / Hojsova Stráž
Start: Železná Ruda
Finish: Hojsova Stráž
Length: 18 km
Character: relatively long route with demanding initial ascent