*A varied circuit in the Brdy hills following the Padrť Ponds nature trail: 17 km (extendable)*

• One of most interesting and attractive places in the Brdy range of hills is the area around the Lower and Upper Padrť ponds. These ponds, first established in the 16th century, are the largest in Brdy. The broad flat meadows around the ponds are filled with wildflowers in summer and there are important wetland marsh areas nearby.
• Until the middle of the last century, the Padrť fishponds were used by a number of historic villages. The population of six villages were evicted during the communist era when the Brdy military area was expanded. The villages were completely raised to the ground, which is why the area today looks so empty, open and unspoilt. The Padrť Ponds became part of the Brdy Protected Landscape Area when the military zone was abolished in 2016.
• An education trail, some 17 km long, circles the area around the vanished villages. Many of the information panels (which are in Czech only) are creatively attached to local rocks. Most of the panels discuss aspects of nature around the ponds. The trail follows a mix of classic Brdy military tracks as well as some forest footpaths. The area around the ponds is especially pretty (not a statement normally associated with the generally austere spruce dominated Brdy landscape!)
• The closest access point is the parking area at Kolvín, at the western edge of the Brdy range. This is (unusually for Brdy) a large parking area but does require payment – cash only. The nearest public transport option is the bus stop in the village of Skořice, 1.4 km further down the road. None of the trail is difficult with just over 200m of height to ascend-descend. The forest sections would be a struggle with a stroller.
• There are no refreshment options along the trail (as is usual with most Brdy walks) but if driving watch out for the Liška BISTROuška snack bar in the nearest town, Mirošov (situated next to the church). It serves excellent draft ice cream.
• Note that there are many footpaths and bike tracks in this part of Brdy, so it is easy to extend the walk in several directions, for example to claim one of the 800m peaks, eg Praha at 862m, the second highest Brdy peak and very visible due to its telecom tower. Adding an ascent of Praha to the route, results in a 23 km walk, if taking the most direct route to the summit.

Note: click ‘Show on map’ above to go to a full screen version directly on the mapy.cz site. This can be used for online navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file

Directions (note that the route is not well marked and is best followed using the mapy.cz phone application)

• From the Kolvín car park, walk up the road towards the forest for 900m to join the nature trail. This is also where the road meets the BLUE hiking trail
• At the junction, turn left onto the BLUE trail heading up hill
• After 900m, near the top of the hill, take the first turn to the right leaving the BLUE trail but remaining on the nature trail (occasionally marked with the information boards)
• Continue gently downhill on the forest footpath for 800m until reaching the forest road and a crossroads. Take the left-hand path (not the BLUE hiking trail)
• Head downhill on the forest footpath for 1 km and then turn right onto the larger track which leads to the Padrť junction after a further 400m
• At the junction, turn left onto the RED trail heading towards the Zadní Záběhlá junction, which is reached after 900m
• At the Zadní Záběhlá junction, turn right to follow the cycle path for 1.5 km to reach the Přední Záběhlá junction
• At Přední Záběhlá turn right heading downhill to reach the Dolejší padrťský rybník junction after 1.9 km
• At the Dolejší padrťský rybník junction, turn left onto the RED trail and continue for 1.6 km to reach the Hořejší padrťský ryb. (this is the furthest point of the nature trail)
• It is worth walking along the dam for a section to catch the view over both ponds
• Return back to the parking area from the Hořejší padrťský ryb junction by following the BLUE hiking trail for 5 km. This leads back to the spot reached on the outbound route, 900m from the parking area. Return back along the road to the parking.