Discovering the Hřebeny viewpoints from Mníšek pod Brdy; a 14 km circular trip

• Hřebeny is a surprisingly rocky ridge of hills located to the south west of Prague, stretching from Zbraslav towards Dobřís, covered in mixed woodland that provides a colourful backdrop to a number of excellent viewpoints, such as Babka peak (505m).
• This circular walk starts at the impressive chateau of Mníšek pod Brdy, and the route climbs up to the Baroque monastery complex of Skalka (with its unusual alley of 14 shrines) and viewpoints.
• From Skalka, the route descends through the attractive mixed forests towards Řevnice, and then climbs to the spectacular rocky viewpoint of Babka (note: Babka can be quite busy on sunny weekends).
• The route then passes alongside the Bronze age hillfort of Hradiště Pišťák, ascends for a final time to the small lake of Jezírko, and finally returns to Mníšek on a gently descending path, which in its last section traverses the chateau lake.
• The forest paths are well marked but are relatively steep and rocky in places, with some muddy sections after wet weather. The final (descent) section is mostly on a quiet asphalt road. Over its 14km length, a total of 480m height is gained/lost on the route.
• There are various alternatives for shortening (or lengthening) the route as the forest area has many alternative paths, which are marked on mapy.cz (but do not have coloured trail marks).
• Refreshments should be available at the kiosk at Skalka, and in Mníšek.
• The 17th century chateau which has an interesting history is (normally) open for guided tours, and the attractive castle gardens are usually open to the public (except Mondays).

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 at the large car park just outside the Chateau Mníšek pod Brdy gates
• Pass along the wall of the Chateau gardens (which are worth a visit) and join the GREEN hiking trail just below the Chateau
• Head to the north, towards the forested hills, following the GREEN trail
• After passing through a residential area the trail ascends steeply through the woods, and then along to the Skalka Baroque monastery complex (there is a refreshment kiosk here) with its unusual shrine alley and impressive views (reached after 2.2km from the Chateau)
• From Skalka continue on the GREEN trail descending through the woods for 3km, to reach the signpost of Pod Strážným
• At Pod Strážným turn onto the BLUE trail in the direction of Babka
• After 950m of ascent on this path, there is a marked diversion trail (blue triangles) to the left. Take this diversion, which leads uphill to reach the rocky viewpoint of Babka (370m from the diversion start)
• From Babka return back to the main BLUE trail and continue to the left, across the open meadow (cut for the overhead electric cables)
• After 1.2km reach the Pod Jezírkem signpost. Turn left onto YELLOW trail in the direction Jezírko
• The paths ascends 600m to reach the small lake of Jezírko, and from there continue for 1.3km on the wide forest path to reach the signpost of Červený kříž – rozc.
• At Červený kříž – rozc. turn right onto the RED trail (direction Skalka) and follow this asphalt road for 1.1km to reach the signpost of Na Rovinách
• At Na Rovinách turn left onto the YELLOW trail and follow this for 2.9km through the residential area, past the Chateau lake to reach the Chateau car park