Walks in the hills near Ještěd (1012m), starting at Kryštofovo Údolí: 15 km to 25 km

• Kryštofovo Údolí is a pretty village hidden in a valley 8 km west of Liberec. It was probably founded as a coal mining village in the 16th century and retains a rural charm with a number of half timbered houses dating from the 17th and 18th centuries and a lovely wooden 17th century church, which has extravagant Rococo ornamentation in the interior. Outside the church is a picturesque wooden bell tower dating from 1754.
• Kryštofovo Údolí is a good starting point for walks in the quiet hills and attractive pine forests of the Ještěd nature park. The range is of course dominated by Ještěd mountain at 1012m high, topped with its well known futuristic TV tower and hotel. One potential route heads towards Ještěd mountain, with the option of visiting the summit on a 20+ km walk or simply enjoying a medium length circular tour in the lower hills below Ještěd.
• The (15 km) route shown below circles around a number of lower summits, with the high point being Černá hora (811m), which has a super view towards the volcanic hills of the České středohoří. The mid point of the circuit is the Výpřež parking area, situated below Ještěd peak. From here various trails lead to the summit. The ultimate walk (25 km) would be to combine the circuit shown on this page with the 10 km circular route from Výpřež to Ještěd peak. Note that this 25 km long route has nearly 1100 m of height to ascend-descend.
• The shorter circuit shown below also has a good few meters to ascend/descend (660m) but none of the trails are particularly steep or difficult. The paths are a mix of mountain roads and forests footpaths. There are several refreshment options in Kryštofovo Údolí, including a café and a couple of pubs. At the Výpřež parking area there is a popular snack bar.

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

• Kryštofovo Údolí is not easily reached by bus, but it dows have a train station on the regional line from Liberec. There are a couple of free parking areas in the village center.
• From the village center follow the GREEN hiking trail in the direction of Kříž v Novině, which is reached in 1.5 km
• From there, continue on the GREEN trail for 1.2 km to reach the Kaple sv. Kryštofa junction
• At the Kaple sv. Kryštofa turn left onto the RED trail (which is a section of the E3 European long distance footpath) and continue for 6.4 km to reach the Výpřež parking area
• This is the starting point for the summit climb to Ještěd, if taking the longer route – see the separate page for directions
• For the return journey back to Kryštofovo Údolí from Výpřež, take the GREEN trail in the direction of Černá hora
• The summit of Černá hora is reached in 1 km. From there, continue on the GREEN trail for 2.7 km to reach the Srní sedlo junction
• At the junction, turn left onto the YELLOW trail and follow this for 3.4 km back to the village center, passing the train station