*A walk in the forest and fishpond landscape of Česká Kanada, near Nová Bystřice: 9 km*

• Česká Kanada is a 283 km² protected nature park located in south Bohemia, to the southeast of Jindřichův Hradec. It was formally established as a protected park area in 1994, but the name was created in the 1920’s by the journalist and author, Jaroslav Arnošt Trpák, who was inspired to promote his home region after a tour of Canada.
• Like Canada, this corner of South Bohemia comprises a relatively unpopulated expanse of mixed forests on rolling hills, interspersed with many ponds and small lakes. It is a cool and relatively wet region, which nevertheless attracts its fair share of tourists, drawn by the intriguing name as well as some interesting historical sites and very attractive countryside.
• The symbol of the park is the remarkable 13th century Landštejn castle. Several hiking trails converge on this iconic landmark. The park itself is framed to the west and east by the two historical towns Slavonice and Nová Bystřice. The latter has an excellent easy walk in the forests near the well-known golf club Monachus, which is shown the map below.
• The 9 km trail, which runs close to the Austrian border, passes through sections of the attractively designed golf course (the good restaurant is accessible to the public) and passes a number of smaller ponds. It is a relatively flat walk, but the forest sections (with footpaths crossed with tree roots) would be a challenge with a stroller.
• The walk starts and finishes in Nová Bystřice – there are regular bus connection with Jindřichův Hradec and parking in or near the main square. On the square there are a couple of interesting cafés, including the retro-styled Gino’s Company. Also on the square is the popular Restaurace U Toma, with its outdoor terrace area.
• The walk described below can be extended with a loop starting in Nová Bystřice which follows trails to the east of the town, heading towards Landštejn castle. One option is to take the nature trail to reach the impressive early Baroque Holy Trinity Church in Klášter (see final picture below) and then return along the BLUE hiking trail. This is a good 12 km walk but does have a long section along the road back to Nová Bystřice, so if only wanting a short walk take the option set out below!

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

• If traveling by bus to Nová Bystřice, walk around the chateau to reach the main square. At the square join the GREEN hiking trail heading in the direction of Blanko
• Follow the trail (which runs beside the road) for 1 km until reaching a junction (map point 2) just before the golf clubhouse. At this point leave the GREEN trail (which turns right to head past the clubhouse). Continue straight on, following the nature trail markers (green/white diagonal stripes)
• This trail runs at the edge of the golf course and then past three ponds, to reach Blanko trail junction after 4.1 km
• At the trail junction, turn right to rejoin the GREEN hiking trail heading back towards Nová Bystřice, which is reached in 3.2 km