*The waterfall route along the Bilá Opava from Karlova Studánka – 12 km*

• The cascades and waterfalls that line the route of the Bilá Opava stream below Praděd (the highest peak in Jeseníky mountains) are some of the most scenic in the country. The trail that runs from the pretty spa town of Karlova Studánka towards Praděd alongside the stream is justly famous.
• The route twists and turns together with the stream and includes several wooden planking sections, steep steps and even some short sections up the rocks. It is a challenging trail with slippery and wet sections (good hiking boots are advisable), but is well marked and definitely one of the most attractive and exciting trails in the region. There are many waterfalls along the route, the largest of which falls nearly 8m.
• It is best to take the waterfall route in ascent and the much less challenging path along the road back down from the ski resort of Ovčárna. The suggested itinerary also visits the well situated mountain hut of Barborka for refreshments at the mid point. The circular route, including a stop at Barborka totals 11.8 km with 520 of ascent-descent, if starting from the closest car park in Karlova Studánka.
• The trip can easily be extended to include an ascent of Praděd (1491m). The paved (asphalt) mountain road that winds all the way to the summit starts just below the Barborka hut. This extended trip totals 17.5 km with 680m of ascent-descent. For a description of the Praděd ascent route with pictures, see the separate Praděd-Ovčárna walk.
• Finally, with the waterfall route starting in the historical and picturesque spa town of Karlova Studánka, leave a bit of time to walk the paths around the spa. A short 2 km circuit is described here. There are several good refreshment spots in the spa town as an alternative (or addition) to the Barborka hut.

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’  to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.

Directions

• Start the walk at the (paid) Hubertus visitor car park on we the western edge of Karlova Studánka
• From the parking area take the YELLOW hiking trail which descends some steps at the north end of the car park to reach the stream. Then follow the trail upstream
• There is a short section along the road before the path heads into the forest beside the stream. The Na paloučku trail junction is reached 1.9 km after leaving the car park
• At Na paloučku, stay on the YELLOW trail which is the scenic route beside the stream, including the wooden plank sections – the alternative BLUE trail which also leaves from Na paloučku follows a path in the forest above the stream and does not offer the same views or excitement (but is much easier!)
• The YELLOW trail rejoins the BLUE after 1.7 km of twisting path at the Nad vodopády Bílé Opavy trail junction. From here, follow the BLUE trail to reach the Barborka hut in 2.1 km
• From Barborka take the mountain road downhill for 300m, still following the BLUE trail to reach the Ovčárna-Praděd road at the U Barborky junction
• At the junction, join the GREEN trail which follows the road for 800m to reach Ovčárna and from there continues down the road for a further 2.5 km to reach the trail signpost of Sutě. Here, the trail leaves the road and descends towards Karlova Studánka to reach the Hubertus car park after 2.3 km