*Historic Bruntál and its volcanic landscape: 4 short walks, or one combined trip – 6 km to 19 km*

• Bruntál is a town in the historic Moravian-Silesian region located at the edge of the Jeseníky mountain range. The town itself is worth a visit, with a historic center, some nice cafés and restaurants, and a lovely chateau which is a unique blend of Renaissance and Baroque styles. The chateau was acquired by the order of the Teutonic Knights after the Battle of White Mountain in 1620.
• The Bruntál area is also worth visiting for a different reason. Between 1 and 2 million years ago, this was a very active volcanic region. The Czech Republic has several other volcanic regions, but Bruntál is probably the youngest and some of the volcanos were quite violent, delivering lava flows and ejected magma, which are still visible in the landscape close to Bruntál town.
• The most important local volcanic peak is Velký Roudný (780m), the tallest peak in the area. Velký Roudný is responsible for the majority of the visible lava flows in the area. As it is quite a trek (at least 20 km) from Bruntál town to this peak, a separate trip to Velký Roudný is probably necessary. However, other key volcanic sites can be visited in a single trip starting from Bruntál.
• A marked educational trail, called Po vulkanitech (‘Around the volcanos’) has been created to highlight the different sites, with detailed (Czech language) information boards. However, the trail is actually split into four separate and unconnected sections (one of which focuses on the area around Velký Roudný). To visit all the sites in one day, it is probably easiest to take a car and visit each site separately.
• The route shown in the map below connects three of the closest volcanic sites with a tour around the historic center of Bruntál. It is a 19 km round trip on foot, but the walk can be considerably shortened with a car available, as there are small parking areas close to each site (map points 2, 6 and 9). The combined trip if driving around and parking close to each site is approximately 6 km, including the walk around town, which is definitely recommended.
• The summit areas of the two volcanic peaks on the trip, Uhliřský vrch and Venušina sopka, are worth exploring and are good spots for a picnic. Hidden from view at Venušina sopka are some interesting lava caves (featured in the header photo).
• Uhliřský vrch is topped with a highly prominent Baroque pilgrimage church and there is a lovely linden tree avenue along the ´Way of the Cross´ – it was voted ´2022 alley of the year´.
• The third volcanic stop is Lávový proud u Meziny, where the lava flow from Venušina sopka has been exposed by quarrying activity. The columnar basalt formations are definitely worth seeing!
• There are a number of good refreshment spots in Bruntál town centre. Nix Bistro and Bar is a popular spot (map point 13) for some Asian cuisine. For good coffee and cakes, try Kafe Bybodlo on the main square (map point 15).

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

• The walk around Bruntál town does not really need directions as the trow highlights – the chateau and main square are close to each other
• For the walk to the volcanic sites, if starting at the bus station, join the GREEN trail heading out of town. This leads directly to Uhliřský vrch after 2.7 km
• Continue on the GREEN trail for a further 2 km to reach the Moravský Kočov and there turn left onto the YELLOW trail
• Follow the YELLOW trail for 2.4 and at the Mezina junction turn right onto the BLUE trail
• Follow the signs along the BLUE trail to the Venušina sopka, which is reached in 1.3 km
• Return back along the BLUE trail to the Mezina junction and stay on that trail for 1.5 km until reaching the crossroads, where the BLUE trail crosses the main road
• At this point turn right along the main road. The Lávový proud u Meziny is signposted and is reached after 1.2 km
• Return back to the BLUE trail and continue back to the bus station, reached after 3.9 km