*The pre-WWII Dobrošov fortifications educational trail, starting from Jiráskova chata : 6 km*

• The Dobrošov artillery fortress is located in the foothills of the Orlické hory (Eagle mountains) above Náchod. It was one of a series of seventeen fortresses planned to be constructed to protect the Czech border against invasion by Nazi Germany. The fortresses were begun in 1935 and by September 1938 (when Czechoslovakia was forced under the terms of the Munich agreement to cede its borderlands to Germany), five of those fortresses had been partly completed. Dobrošov was one of those five, and the only one which actually fell outside the Sudetenland territory that was annexed by Nazi Germany. For broader information on the history of the Czech border fortifications, take a look at the following short article.
• The fortress complexes were state-of-the-art with several heavy blockhouses performing different functions, linked together by an underground tunnel system. Dobrošov is one of the best preserved of the fortress system and is a national cultural monument. Guided tours of the partly finished blockhouses run from April to October and there is an excellent visitor center.
• There are two education trails in these hills above Náchod that visit different parts of the fortification system. The longer route (at just over 9 km, with 260m of height to ascend/descend) begins just outside Náchod in the village of Běloves. This route circles around a number of the independent blockhouses, including the fully reconstructed Březinka blockhouse, which is a standalone museum. This longer route, which is highly recommended, also visits the main Dobrošov fortress.
• The shorter route (a little over 6 km), centered on the Dobrošov complex, is outlined in the map below. It involves less climbing (160m) than the Běloves route, but requires either driving up to one of the car parks near the fortress or catching a bus from Náchod. Both trails have multi language information boards.
• Technically, the Dobrošov trail starts at the Jiráskova chata (map point 9), where there is a large car park, restaurant and viewing tower. However, if travelling by bus it maybe best to leave a visit to the chata at the end of the trip to enjoy some of the popular restaurant offerings.

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 route around the Dobrošov fortress is not hard to follow and there are good information boards along the waz. If taking the guided tour, some of the stops will automatically be visited on the tour