Walks from Třebívlice (from 10 km to 28 km): a collection of fine České středohoří summits

• Třebívlice is a small town located between Louny and Lovosice on the edge of the České středohoří protected landscape area and close to the most import sources of the semi precious stone Czech garnet. The chateau in Třebívlice was the home during much of the 19th century to Ulrika von Levetzow, who was the German poet J.W. Goethe’s last (but unrequited) love. A small museum dedicated to her life is situated in the town center. Just outside the town is an excellent local winery, Johann W, with an impressive tasting room.
• Třebívlice is a good starting spot for various circular tours into the volcanic landscape of České středohoří, including an ascent of the second highest summit in the nature area, Hradišťany (752m), location of an important late Bronze Age fortification. The stone wall is still visible surrounding what was likely a ritual site for the Knovíz culture between 1300 BC and 1000 BC.
• Other volcanic peaks that can be ascended on circular routes from Třebívlice, include Blešenský vrch (520m) on which a likely Hussite (15th century) wooden watch post was constructed, Oltářík (566m) on whose summit stands a romantic ruin of a small stone castle, also dating from the Hussite period and finally the fine steep sided Lipská hora (689m).
• The full tour of all these peaks is some 27.5 km long and involves 930m of ascent-descent. Shorter routes are possible (eg the circle around Blešenský vrch is approximately 10 km long). The ascent-descent paths of the top sections of these hills are quite steep, but the final summit ascents can all be avoided, walking mostly on easy forest tracks and quiet country lanes. Even if the final summit peaks are not ascended there are still good views on the walk particularly towards the towers of Hazmberk castle, with Říp hill in the far background (see first picture below).
• The suggested circuit is best taken in an anticlockwise direction, allowing a finish along the quiet country road from Leská village with fine views towards Hazmberk castle. This option passes the Johann W winery, possibly for a quick sampling just before the finish. There are other refreshment options in the center of town.

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 in the center of the town of Třebívlice (reached by bus from Louny, Most, Litoměřice). For drivers, here is a free parking area on the main square
• From the main square take the BLUE hiking trail in the direction of Dřemčice, which is reached in 2.3 km
• In Dřemčice, continue on the BLUE trail for 350m to reach the Blešenský vrch junction. Here the diversion to the summit of Blešenský vrch (highly recommended) turns to the left. Take this unless planning to skip all the ascents, in which case carry on along the main BLUE trail
• Take the side diversion (marked blue) to the summit of Blešenský vrch, which is reached in 950m (note part way up is a clearing where a church once stood – there is also a good view from here)
• Return back from the summit and take the short cut path to the left after descending the steeper section of the hill (after 400m). This leads onto the BLUE main hiking trail
• [note, if only planning to do the shorter 10 km route, return back to Dřemčice after ascending Blešenský vrch and there take the YELLOW trail to reach Leská and from there take the RED trail back to Třebívlice]
• For the longer routes, continue on the BLUE to reach the Hrádek – odb junction in 2 km (note – the trail is not particularly well marked in this section – if possible follow the route on mapy.cz application)
• At the Hrádek – odb junction, if planning on ascending to the ruin of Oltářík, take the blue marked diversion trail to reach the summit in 640m and then return back to the main junction
• From the junction continue on the BLUE main trail to reach the Děkovka junction in 300m. Here, turn left onto the RED trail heading in the direction of Lhota, which is reached in 2.3 km
• At the Lhota junction, if wanting to visit the peak of  Lipská hora, continue on the RED trail for 1.2 km reach the summit, and then return back to Lhota
• From Lhota take the YELLOW trail along the country lane to reach the Baková – háj junction after 1.9 km
• At Baková – háj, join the RED trail and head in the direction of Leská
• After 2.5 km of gentle ascent, reach the junction of Hradišťany – odb. If visiting the summit, take the diversion path the the left to reach the open summit area (site of the Bronze age hill fort) in 840m
• Return back to the diversion junction and continue on the RED trail to finally reach the village of Leská in 6.2 km
• From Leská, continue on the RED trail, past the Johann W winery and down the road in to the center of Třebívlice, which is reached in 2.7 km